


The Wizard on the Edge of Forever

by HPFandom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Explicit Language, Multi, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-02
Updated: 2009-05-01
Packaged: 2018-09-30 12:11:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 94,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10162772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPFandom_archivist/pseuds/HPFandom_archivist
Summary: During the Fight at the Department of Mysteries, Harry gets taken on the ride of his life.





	1. Whoops!

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

The Wizard on the Edge of Forever

A Harry Potter/Star Trek Fan Fic.  
By: RPNIELSEN

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don’t own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don’t sic the law demons on me okay? 

 

Chapter 1 Whoops!

Harry, Hermione and Neville dove under some desks to hide from the approaching Death Eaters. Harry stuffed the Prophesy sphere into his pocket, to free up his hands. He was hoping to get it to Dumbledore so he could do something to prevent Voldemort from getting his claws into it. 

Harry looked out from under the desk he was hiding under to get an idea of where he was. He saw several desks in the room, a cabinet and the large bell jar with the Phoenix egg that had fascinated him on their way in. He ducked back under the desk as the door flew open. 

Two Death Eaters came into the room at almost a run. “They might have run straight through to the hall,” said one rough voice

“Check under the desks,” instructed the other.

As the first Death Eater began to bend down to look under the nearest desk, Harry made a snap decision. Poking his wand out from under his own hiding place, he shouted “STUPEFY!”

The jet of red light slammed into the nearest Death Eater and flung him over the desk into a grandfather clock that was standing against the wall. The other Death Eater dodged out of the way of Harry’s spell. He spotted Hermione, who had come out from under her own desk, and took aim. 

“Avada…!” 

Harry shot out from under the desk where he had been hiding and collided with the Death Eater that had been about to curse Hermione, knocking the Death Eater's wand arm towards the ceiling. 

Neville, in his enthusiasm to help Harry, managed to heave the desk he was under towards Harry and the Death Eater, momentarily distracting the two of them. “EXPELLIARMUS!” Neville cried out, causing both Harry's and the Death Eater's wands to fly out of their hands, clattering to the ground near the door leading back to the Hall of Prophecies. As Harry and the Death Eater scrambled after their wands, Neville yelled, “Get out of the way, Harry!” and shot a stunner at the Death Eater. 

The jet of red light shot past the masked man's shoulder and hit the cabinet just beyond him. The cabinet exploded, scattering time turners all over the floor. No sooner did the devices stop clattering to the floor than they shot back into the air and the cabinet reformed itself. This sequence began repeating itself as both Harry and the Death Eater managed to regain their wands. 

Harry ducked behind another desk as the Death Eater took aim at him. The man ripped the mask off his face, as it was interfering with his being able to see where Harry went. 

Just as the Death Eater began to fire off a stunner at Harry, a loud cry of “STUPEFY!” came from Hermione. The beam of light caught the Death Eater in the shoulder and spun him around, stunned. He collapsed over a desk and went face first into the bell jar that lit the room, with the phoenix trapped inside, forever hatching and returning to the egg. Instead of shattering, the jar reacted more like a bubble and flowed around the man’s head until he stopped, with his face in the sand that was in the jar. 

“Let’s get out--” whispered Harry as he headed towards the door away from the prophecy room.

“Look out!” yelled Neville, staring in shock at the bell jar.

All three students were dumbfounded at the sight of what was happening to the man’s head. It was shrinking, hair and stubble receding back into his skin as it shrank. When it stopped shrinking, it was the size of a newborn baby’s head, and then it began growing again until it was exactly like it was when it went into the jar. The cycle repeated itself and the Death Eater began thrashing in an attempt to free himself from the jar. 

“It’s Time” Hermione said in an awestruck voice. “Time…”

During the Death Eaters attempts to free himself from the jar, he managed to fling some of the glittering sand out of the jar's interior. As it floated through the air, some of the substance settled on Harry. While none of it got in his eyes, the particles that did get on his skin didn’t feel like normal sand. They tingled and prickled, with a crawling sensation not unlike tiny spiders traversing his skin, crawling on him just like he remembered from his years in the cupboard under the stairs. Harry tried to ignore the sensation as he watched the Death Eater finally pull his head out of the jar. A small baby’s head was perched atop the muscular neck of the man, bawling as loudly as it could. 

Harry raised his wand. However he was surprised to find Hermione’s hand stopping him. 

“You can’t hurt a baby!” 

Shaking his head as if to clear it, he heard the sounds of the other Death Eaters beyond the doorway.

“Come on!” Harry called, pulling Neville and Hermione out into a darkened hallway and hopefully towards safety. Once in the hallway the three teens spotted several Death Eaters come into the room they had just left. Spotting two open doors in the hall, Harry led his group through the door closest to his left into a cluttered office and slammed the door. Hermione began a spell to try and seal the door, but two more Death Eaters slammed the door open and one of them yelled out “IMPEDIMENTA!”

The three teens were knocked off their feet by the force of the spell. Neville went over a desk and out of sight. Hermione flew backwards into a bookshelf and was partially buried under a pile of books. Harry slammed into a wall cracking his head. Seeing stars, he struggled to a crouch. 

“WE’VE GOT HIM!” yelled the one of the Death Eaters “IN AN OFFICE OFF…”

“SILENCIO!” cried Hermione. The spell silenced the Death Eater in mid sentence. They could still see his mouth trying to yell out where they were through the bottom of the mask, with no success.

Harry took aim at the other Death Eater “PETRIFIC--!” 

He froze, mid-incantation, as the first spark of magic energy flowing into his wand suddenly flared around his hand and up his arm, flowing from grain to glittering grain of the sand from the time jar and sparking them all into incandescence.. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at Harry’s glowing form. The glow grew to an almost blinding intensity and Harry's vision started to spin into a blur of colors and shapes. He was suddenly reminded of his trip with Hermione's time-turner, back in third year, but instead of a feeling like he was flying backwards, it felt as if he were flying in all directions at once, falling and rising and spinning out of control, into infinity. The light grew brighter still, swirling into a kaleidoscope of color and sound.

Just before he faded out completely, he heard Hermione and Neville screaming for him, as if from a great distance. "Harry? Harry?!"


	2. Stranger in a Strange Land

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 2: Stranger in a Strange Land

Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.

These were the first things that Harry heard as he slowly regained consciousness. Before attempting to move or open his eyes, he took stock of his situation. Okay, I'm alive and nothing seems to be broken. 

If nothing else, living with the Dursleys had taught him to be vigilant when waking, and his time in the Wizarding world had done nothing to change that. While the Dursleys had always been verbally abusive and worked him into the dirt, Vernon and Petunia hadn't hurt him physically since he was about six. The hospital trip resulting from that last incident, and the fast talking that Vernon had had to do to convince the authorities that Harry's broken arm was nothing more than an accident, seemed to have curbed that tendency. After all, a Walrus and a Giraffe kicking the bloody hell out of a little boy wasn't "normal," And the Dursleys craved the appearance of normality above all else. 

Encouraging Dudley to go after Harry, however... that could be passed off as "roughhousing" and no one would be the wiser. Needless to say, Harry had become very cautious when waking up. 

However, coming to in an unfamiliar bed that, while comfortable, was clearly neither his four-poster in Gryffindor Tower, nor his usual bed in Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing, made him doubly wary. The strange electronic pulsing sound that seemed to match pace with his heartbeat was completely outside of his experience. 

Having to deal with Tommy I-Have-Abandonment-Issues-And-An-Oedipus-Complex Riddle or his flunkies on a yearly basis usually ended with Harry spending time in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, but someday, he was sure, he'd wake up in a dungeon straight out of Dante's Inferno or Frankenstein. Had it finally happened? 

He quickly went over his most recent memories. The last thing that seemed to be really clear was the Department of Mysteries, being chased by Death Eaters. He'd tried to fire off a spell. There was a bluish-white glow, and that's where things went weird. Beyond that, nothing until just now. Even then he realized he had no clue as to what happened to himself or his friends. 

Suddenly Harry's eyes snapped open and he rolled off the bed and into a crouch. _Death Eaters! Did we get captured? This is not good._ These thoughts ran through his mind as he quickly took stock of his situation. 

He looked around for his wand and glasses; to his surprise, they were on the table right next to the bed. Quickly, he put his glasses back on and gripped his wand tightly, prepared to curse anything that moved. 

When he looked around, what he saw was not what he expected. It certainly didn't look like a Death Eater dungeon, which was somewhat comforting. Initially he thought he might be in St. Mungo's, but he had been there and the rooms he'd seen looked nothing like this. 

The room was painted in a light blue color that seemed to try and present a peaceful feeling. The bed he was behind was nothing like anything he had seen before. There were no legs to speak of, just a thick pedestal that the mattress and pillow were on. The mattress looked like it was made of hard black leather, but when he touched it; it gave easily to his finger's pressure. Mounted on the wall behind the mattress, there was a rectangular box that had several gauges set within it, all currently reading zero. He also noticed that the odd rhythmic sound he had been hearing had stopped. 

Harry noted that there were several other empty beds around the room, as well as what appeared to be desks that were built into dividers that sectioned off the room into several smaller areas. The oddly shaped chairs that were at each "desk" seemed to be made of some kind of metal, but he wasn't sure of that. On the desk nearest to him he could see an odd shaped box on the desk, but beyond that no clue as to where he was.

A door at the end of the room slid open with a soft whoosh, and a man dressed in a blue shirt and black pants walked into the room. He was speaking to someone behind him as he entered. "--get it right after I check up on our guest, Doctor." 

The man stopped short when he saw that the empty bed where Harry had been. He took two steps forward before Harry popped up from behind the bed and pointed his wand across the surface. 

"Hold it!" Harry snapped. 

The man in blue, seeing nothing but a stick pointing at him, continued to move forward, reaching towards him with one arm. "Hey there young man. You need to get back into bed so w--" 

He got no further that that as Harry yelled out, "STUPEFY!" 

The beam of red light caught the man right in the center of his chest, causing him to drop to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, as Harry had intended. 

What had not been intended was the effect of the magical backwash on the mechanisms in and around the bed he'd used to brace his arm. Every gauge lit up and spiked at their maximum reading, before blowing out in a shower of sparks. More sparks and an electrical arc came out of the bed itself for a moment, before smoke began to drift up and the room filled with the smell of burnt electrical insulation. 

A light on the wall that had previously been white shifted to a red color while a whirring noise from a hidden fan started and sucked the tendrils of smoke that were hanging in the air away from the fried bed. 

Harry backed away from the bed and tried to take cover as best he could beside the nightstand. All the while he was thinking frantically to himself, _What the Bloody Hell is going on here? That guy isn't dressed like a wizard. For that matter I haven't seen anyone dressed like that before. And what's with the muggle electronics? I've never even heard of electro-beds! Voldemort hates muggles; he'd never use any of this stuff!_

Harry began to realize that, wherever he was, it sure wasn't the Department of Mysteries or any other place he'd ever heard of before. 

 

Dr. M'Benga came running around the corner and into the room. He had heard someone shout just before the alarms sounded. Usually, a shout coming from the sickbay meant one of two things: either something serious had happened to a patient, or something had gone seriously wrong with the equipment. Since the latter rarely happened, he was betting on the first. 

What he didn't expect to see was his physician's assistant out cold on the floor, a smoking biobed, and no immediate sign of the teenaged patient that had been unconscious on the bed less than an hour ago. 

M'Benga immediately went to Davids and began checking him out. Seeing that the young man was just unconscious and not injured, he looked at the bed for a moment and tried to figure out what happened. 

"Mama wei, must have been a power surge. That's going to drive Mr. Scott mad tracking it down," he muttered as he began to move around the bed to try to find his patient. 

"FREEZE!" Harry cried out as the dark-skinned man came into view. His shaking voice betrayed the adrenaline and fear that he was feeling. 

M'Benga stopped in his tracks. He saw the boy, partially hidden beside the nightstand, with a stick pointed at him. A stick whose tip was glowing an ominous red. Okay, maybe not just a stick, then.

"Alright, young man. I'm stopped. Is there something I can do for you? You're the one in charge here," M'Benga said in a pleasant voice. He'd been through hostage training a few months ago and learned that usually the hostage takers tended to be either young and scared or stone-cold killers. He was betting on young and scared. If that was the case, then he needed to calm this kid down, and everything would be alright. 

"Yeah. Where am I? How'd I get here? Where are my friends? And who the hell are you?" Harry snapped out a rapid fire series of questions. 

"Okay. I'll tell you everything that I can, though I don't know all of the answers. If it's okay with you, I'll just sit down right here with my hands visible so you can see that I'm not going to hurt you. Is that alright?" M'Benga asked in a mild tone. 

Harry shakily nodded his head. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he was scared and the events of the last few minutes were catching up to him. 

M'Benga sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Harry, being very careful to keep his hands on his knees. "Well, to answer your last question first, I am Doctor Keme M'Benga. You are aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. May I ask your name? It is only polite after all."

After a few moments, Harry replied, "It's Harry, Harry Potter." He was slightly surprised at the question. If this man was a wizard, then he should have known who he was by the scar on his forehead at a minimum. 

"Nice to meet you, Harry. Is it okay if I call you Harry?" asked M'Benga politely. Harry nodded his head. Dr. M'Benga's accent sounded odd to Harry; it was cultured and had a definite Oxford quality to it, but it wasn't quite like any accent he'd heard before. Not to mention the fact that Dr. M'Benga was dressed oddly, even for a wizard, in clothes very nearly identical to those worn by the first man who came in. It was almost like it was a uniform, or something, but it wasn't one he'd ever seen before. 

M'Benga mentally noted that Harry seemed to be calming down and had been lost in thought for half a moment. "Well Harry, as for how you got here, all I know is that we found you on that rock we're going around out there and brought you aboard. Unfortunately, you were the only one we found, so I can't tell you anything about your friends. I'm sorry," he said sympathetically. 

Harry flinched at this news and asked. "You're sure you didn't find anyone? There were five more people with me." 

M'Benga shook his head. 

A surprised look crossed Harry's face as he asked. "Half a mo, you said U.S.S. Enterprise, right?" 

"That's correct." replied M'Benga wondering what this kid was thinking. 

"How the bloody hell did I get onto a rock in the middle of the bloody ocean and get picked up by a Yank aircraft carrier? Where the hell are we?" exclaimed Harry. He remembered hearing over the previous summer the news on the telly one evening that an American carrier called the Enterprise had docked in Southampton and they were giving tours. Dudley had begged Uncle Vernon to go see it but was unable to for some reason or another. 

M'Benga looked at Harry oddly for a second before responding. "Aircraft carrier? Harry, there hasn't been an aircraft carrier on Earth for over two hundred years, and we're a long way from Earth." 

"Two hundred-- Hang on, what do you mean two hundred years? Away from Earth? You're joking, right?" Harry insisted in a slightly disbelieving tone. He was getting a bad feeling about this. 

Dr. M'Benga looked Harry straight in the eye and asked in a serious tone that demanded a truthful answer. "What year do you think it is, Harry?"

An icy ball formed itself in Harry's stomach as he said, "It's 1996."

"Harry, by the old Earth calendar, the year is 2266," was M'Benga's reply. 

Harry suddenly remembered the room that Hermione, Neville and himself had been in just before he woke up here. The time turners, the bell jar with the phoenix. The dust the Death Eater had scattered onto his skin. Hermione had said something about Time. Time. Time.

"Oh Bloody Hell" Harry said in a whisper as he lowered his wand to the floor. 

 

A few hours later, Harry found himself seated at conference table with several other people. Harry was only familiar with one of them.

He had met Dr. McCoy not long after his confrontation with M'Benga, when the Chief Medical Officer came back on duty for his morning shift, after several days of enforced rest following an accident with something called a 'hypospray'. Harry hadn't really understood the details.

McCoy had given Harry a more thorough exam, just to make sure that he was okay and that there were no hidden injuries. Harry had been glad to discover the exam was nothing like the ones Muggle doctors or Madam Pomfrey usually gave. All he had to do was lay down on a diagnostic biobed for a few minutes, and there were no pokes, prods, or foul tasting potions. The remainder of the exam was just some questions about his health and lifestyle. 

Since then, Harry had been given breakfast and a general overview of the ship, but all the while, Harry had been trying to come up with a good cover story. After all, this starship might be a long way from Earth, but he still didn't want to get hauled in front of the Wizengamot for violating the Statute of Secrecy once he got home.

Or...well, at least back to Earth. 

Dr. McCoy also didn't press Harry for any answers, about how he had gotten to the planet they were orbiting, or how he was able to stun Davids or how he managed to fry the biobed. All he has said in that soft Southern accent of his was, "Son, if I was in your shoes, I'd only want to tell it one time. I can wait a spell to ask my questions. Also, don't fret none about the people that'll be there. Their good people and ain't gonna bite. Alright?"

That statement somehow comforted Harry and he felt that the doctor was someone he could talk too if he wanted to, without being judged. 

Harry turned his attention to a man in a gold tunic as he began to speak. 

"Sorry about that, I should have given the go ahead on that addition earlier. Good to see you back on your feet, Bones. No lasting affects, I hope?" he asked Dr. McCoy in a friendly tone. 

"Nope. I'm fully cleared for duty sir," replied McCoy.

"Excellent." The man in gold turned his attention to Harry. "Young man, my name is Captain James T. Kirk. I'm the Captain of the United Federation of Planets Starship Enterprise. To my right is Mr. Spock and to my left is Lt. Uhura. You already know Dr. McCoy." 

As Captain Kirk introduced himself and each officer, Harry took a good look at each one. Kirk was an athletic looking man with brown hair. If Harry had had to guess, he'd say the man was in his 30's. Though his manner bore no trace of it, his eyes seemed to hold a lot of pain. They reminded Harry of Cho's eyes in the months after Cedric died, though without the tears. 

Mr. Spock was tall and dressed in a blue tunic, much like Dr. McCoy's. Harry almost did a double-take when he first saw him; Mr. Spock had a definite green cast to his skin, and his ears, they were pointed. Harry wondered for half a moment if Mr. Spock would be what a house elf looked like if they somehow got crossed with a human. Yet despite the satanic look, the man's presence seemed to radiate calm and intelligence. Harry felt Mr. Spock would have been just as at home in a classroom as on a starship. 

Harry then looked at Lt. Uhura. She was an exotic beauty who seemed concerned for Harry. She had a look on her face that while business-like, gave him the feeling she would like nothing better than to come over and give him a Molly Weasley style hug. He only hoped that when he got back to Hogwarts he wouldn't make a fool of himself by trying to compare Katie, Angelina, and Alicia with this lady. 

"To begin with, would you introduce yourself and if possible try to explain how you got out here?" asked Captain Kirk in a friendly tone. 

Harry began his tale. He hoped that it would be good enough to go with and not cause him to get into any more trouble than he was sure to be in when he got back to Earth. "Sir, my name is Harry James Potter and I'm 15. I am...I mean I was...a student at the Hogarth Academy in Scotland. Dr. M'Benga tells me that was over 250 years ago. I'm not really sure how I got here, sir. Some of the students and I were on a field trip down in London. We'd decided to go out and see what some of the London kids did for fun at night. We were walking around London near Parliament when there was this big explosion. I didn't see what it was, but Hermione, she's one of my friends, yelled out "Terrorists!" and we took off. Anyway, I guess she was right because we ran into a couple of them and tried to fight them off. All I can really remember after that was a big flash of light and feeling really weird. Then, well, I woke up in your sickbay."

"Interesting," responded Kirk. "So you don't know how you got to the planet?" 

"No sir. I really don't." Harry replied honestly. He wondered why they were interested in that piece of information. 

Mr. Spock spoke up for the first time, his rich baritone surprising Harry a bit. "Mr. Potter, while we were exploring the surface of the planet below us, an ancient artifact activated and deposited you on the ground in front of us. It also made a statement about you when it did so. We were hoping that you would have some insight as to how the artifact functioned." 

"I'm sorry Mr. Spock, I wish I could help. You did say that the artifact said something? Could that help?" asked Harry.

Mr. Spock replied, "I do not believe so; the message was somewhat cryptic. However we do have a recording of the event. Lt. Uhura, would you please play the recording?"

"Certainly, Mr. Spock." Uhura looked at Harry for a moment and then pressed several buttons on the small console in front of her.

A large triangular shaped box rose out of the center of the table. On each face was a flat panel that Harry recognized as a television monitor. The screen facing him lit up and displayed a desolate wasteland of grey rocks and dirt. In the center of the screen was a very large single piece of rock. In the center of the rock was an oblong shaped hole that Hagrid could have easily walked through with plenty of room to spare. To Harry the whole formation resembled a giant stone doughnut. Suddenly the rock formation lit up from some internal source and a mist began falling from the top of the hole with a faint hissing sound. In the background he heard Lt. Uhura call out. "Captain, the Guardian! It's activating again." 

Captain Kirk replied from somewhere out of the field of view. "Are you recording this?" 

"Yes Captain, on all available spectra."

Suddenly a deep voice spoke and almost seemed to drip with age. The light that was coming from the rock formation flashed in concert with the voice. "Cast adrift through the sands of time, the chosen one is returned to you." No sooner had the voice stopped, than the mist flowing from the top of the hole began glowing a bluish white color. Harry saw himself tumble through the mist, still with the same faint glow surrounding him that he remembered from those last seconds in the Department of Mysteries. He immediately collapsed on the ground and the glow surrounding him faded a moment later. Harry watched as Mr. Spock came over and scanned him with a box that he now knew to be a tricorder. "Captain, he is saturated with chronometric particles. The saturation percentage is dropping exponentially and I calculate that he will be free of the particles in less than two minutes." 

At this point the screen faded to black and Harry had a shocked look on his face. _Bloody Hell, so that's what happened. My magic must have reacted to with the sand from the phoenix jar and sent me into the future. How am I going to explain this?_

As the display monitors lowered back into the table, Captain Kirk spoke. "It's pretty obvious based on what you told us that you don't have anything to do with the artifact. However, there is another matter. Can you explain how you knocked out Physician's Assistant Davids and shorted out a biobed?"

"I think so sir. But if you will bear with me, this may take a bit to explain," Harry said. He closed his eyes for a moment and prayed to any higher power that might be listening that this piece of his story would work. 

"Well sir, my parents were killed when I was just over a year old, and I was sent to my aunt and uncle to live. They didn't like me very much, but it's not really important; it's just to give you some background on what my home life was like. Anyway, ever since I can remember, strange things have happened around me. I'd get angry and things would break. One time I got my head shaved and hated it but the next morning all my hair had grown back. I was getting chased by bullies at school and somehow ended up on the roof without climbing anything. Things like that. When I was little, I started calling that weird stuff 'magic'.

"One day I was out shopping and found this stick on sale in an antique store. It just seemed to hum when I picked it up, and it let off some sparks, so I bought it. Since then the 'magic' seems a lot more controlled."

Mr. Spock spoke up. "So you have the ability to control these events at will since acquiring your...'magic wand' for lack of a better term?" 

Harry took a breath and though for a second, trying to come up with a plausible response. "Not really, sir. I can knock people out if I'm feeling threatened, but not always. I've been able to do other things from time to time, but not consistently. Stuff like causing the tip to light up like a torch, occasionally being able to cause things to float in the air. Wake someone up from a few feet away. Little things mostly. One thing that I have noticed is if my magic hits something electrical, it causes it to short out or just stop working."

Dr. McCoy looked at Harry with the look of someone that was in deep thought and asked. "Harry, would you say that your magic seems to respond better in a stressful situation or if you're feeling some pretty strong emotions?"

Harry closed his eyes for a second, as if he was trying to remember past events, though he was actually just relieved that they were buying his story. "Now that you mention it, yeah, it does seem like that."

McCoy sat back in his seat with a look of extreme concentration on his face. He started to mutter under his breath, but not so quietly as to not be heard "Possible DNA mutation causing an advanced fight-or-flight response...possible evolutionary step...."

Captain Kirk looked around the table, when his gaze settled on Harry, a flash of something, possibly regret, crossed his face for just moment before he spoke. "Mr. Potter, since you are our guest for the foreseeable future, we will arrange for quarters for you. However, seeing as your talents could pose a danger to this ship, you will undergo a thorough evaluation on the extent of your abilities. Your 'wand' as Mr. Spock so quaintly put it, will remain locked up in the Medical office unless you are being evaluated or a situation arises to require its use to...prevent any uncontrolled outbursts. In addition, you will undergo an assessment of your educational status and any deficiencies will be addressed. We will get you back Earth as soon as possible, but in the meantime, can you abide by these rules?"

Harry hated giving up his wand, but it wasn't like he didn't spend his summers without it every year anyway. And he didn't want to blow up the ship accidentally, either. He responded with a happy, "Yes, sir."

Kirk then continued. "Dr. McCoy, your department will oversee the testing and educational evaluation. Co-ordinate your evaluation of Mr. Potter's talents with Mr. Spock and Mr. Scott. I'd like a preliminary report within 72 hours. Lt. Uhura, please arrange quarters for Mr. Potter. Thank you everyone, that is all." 

Captain Kirk stood and exited the conference room, followed by Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy. Uhura came over to Harry and guided him out the door. As they left the room, she said "Don't worry Harry, we'll take good care of you while you're here."


	3. The Trouble with Puffskiens

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 3: The Trouble with Puffskiens  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three weeks after Harry's arrival in the 23rd century, he learned that in many respects the 23rd century was no different than the 20th. He found out that, despite all of humanity's efforts and advances, schedules always change and no plan ever stays intact. It had been Captain Kirk's intent to finish their patrol and drop Harry off at Starbase 12, but then something had happened at Deneva. Needless to say, the _Enterprise_ was diverted there to investigate. 

They had only been in orbit around the planet for a few hours when Dr. McCoy had called down to the Astrometrics lab. Harry had been there working on his geometry with Lt. Leslie, one of the ship's navigators. McCoy had asked Harry to go back to his room immediately, and told him not to leave unless it was a life or death emergency. Harry had asked why, not because he wasn't going, but just so he could let his tutors know where to find him. McCoy quickly explained that they had survivors from Deneva aboard and they were being controlled by some sort of creature. He didn't want to take the chance that something might get loose and attack Harry. Lt. Leslie had escorted Harry straight to his cabin as soon as Dr. McCoy signed off. 

Up until then, Harry's time aboard the _Enterprise_ had been going fairly well. Shortly after his arrival, he had undergone a battery of tests to evaluate his 'abilities' as well as his education. His math scores were low, but he chalked that up to not taking Arithmancy while at Hogwarts. Thanks to all the essays he'd written over the past five years, Harry had actually done quite well in English, so that was one subject he didn't need to worry about. He guessed that all the Hogwarts professors marking on his assignments had done a lot of good in that regard, though he still felt that Snape always done it just to be a git.

Astronomy wasn't too bad either. Mr. Sulu, the ship's helmsman, had a doctorate in Astronomy and had offered to tutor Harry in the more modern applications of the subject.

History, however, was causing Harry to tear his hair out, as were chemistry and physics. Hogwarts had left him woefully unprepared for most of the school subjects that he would be taking in this new and different Muggle world.

He still missed his friends back at Hogwarts, and wondered what had happened to most of them. The ship's historian, Lt. McGivers, had spent time with Harry to both tutor him and question him on his life back in the late 20th century. When he'd told her of his fears for his friends, she'd taken the time to try and find out what happened to them. 

There was no trace of Ron, Ginny, Neville or Luna anywhere in the ship's databases. That didn't really surprise Harry, since pureblood wizards wouldn't show up in Muggle records. But with the single Muggleborn among his friends, Lt. McGivers had struck paydirt. She was able to find one Muggle photograph, showing an older Hermione in a graduation cap and gown, with three large stripes on each sleeve. The caption on the picture said 'Dr. Hermione Granger, University of Sydney, Class of 2007.' 

When Harry asked why they couldn't find anything else about her, Lt. McGivers had explained that when the Eastern Coalition had started World War Three, they had destroyed many of Earth's cities with nuclear weapons in their first strike. Humanity lost so many records, so much history, in those few horrific days. It was a tragedy second only to the millions of lives also lost. Even now, archeologists were finding bits and pieces of lost knowledge, long buried, that changed the way that they looked at humanity's past. 

And that was the root of Harry's problem with History. It had nothing to do with how he was being taught; Lt. McGivers was far more engaging than Binns had ever been. The problem was that, for Harry, everything that he had known or had a point of reference to had gone up in a Holocaust of fire and insanity within just a few decades of his departure. Voldemort might have been a madman, but he never tried to completely exterminate an entire branch of humanity like Col. Green did. Voldemort's atrocities were smaller scale -- a Muggleborn here, a blood traitor's family there. Horrible, yes, but a few evil wizards with wands could not have achieved in a hundred years even half the level of destruction that one man...one Muggle...managed in a single day.

When he had been told about that, and realized what it meant, Harry had been violently sick and spent the rest of his day in sickbay. 

 

After four days of being locked up in his cabin Harry was feeling like he was going a bit stir crazy. It was still better than being locked in his room on Privet Drive all summer, but at least there he'd had Hedwig for company. 

He was glad when Dr. McCoy finally called down to his room and told him it was okay to come out now. In fact, the Doctor had asked that he spend the next couple of days in Sickbay. When Harry asked why, McCoy explained that they had a young survivor aboard and he might want someone his own age to talk to instead of "us ol' fogies." 

Harry came down to sickbay and knocked on the Dr. McCoy's doorframe. 

"Sir? Where's the guy you told me about?" Harry politely asked. 

Dr. McCoy stood up and walked towards the door "Come on, he's over in the recovery room. He should be waking up in anytime now. Those damn parasites did a number on his neurological system. It looks like everything is going to be okay eventually, but he's going to have problems at first. I'm going to need your help. Mostly as moral support, which I'll tell you about in a bit. But I've also seen the kinds of injuries that you've gone through, so he's going to need support like you did when you were healing up, okay?" During the medical exam that Harry had undergone while evaluating his magic, Dr. McCoy had seen the scars from the injuries that Harry had received over the years. 

Harry winced internally; most of the injuries McCoy was talking about had been healed magically, so his 'healing up' had only been a matter of a day or two at most. And for the injuries he'd had before Hogwarts, there had never been any kind of 'support'. "No problem sir. Would it be ok for me to do my schoolwork down here while I'm waiting for him to wake up?" Harry asked. He didn't want to get behind and besides, doing his schoolwork reminded him of what his friends did for him when he was in hospital. 

"Nope, it'll be good for both of you. Reminds me of when I was in med school. Always bouncing problems off my classmates and they did the same to me. That reminds me, how's the eyesight doing?" asked McCoy lightheartedly

"Pretty good sir, glad to be rid of the glasses." replied Harry. McCoy had determined that Harry's eyes could be fixed with a course of treatment using Retinax V. The medication series had ended two days ago and Harry was pleased with the results. 

Dr. McCoy and Harry stopped in front of one of the semi private alcoves in the recovery area of the sickbay. Lying on one of the biobeds was a young boy. Harry had been expecting someone around his age, but this kid was only about eleven or twelve years of age. _Good lord, it's a firstie!_

"Harry, this is Peter Kirk. He's twelve. Unfortunately, his parents were killed by the creatures that attacked Deneva. He's also Captain Kirk's nephew. His uncle is busy running the ship so he's not going to have the time to spend with Peter that he should. You think you can help him?" asked Dr. McCoy with a serious look on his face.

Harry just stared at the sleeping boy. _Merlin's balls! He's just a kid. He shouldn't have to be burying his mom and dad. I don't know what I could do to... Wait you idiot, he's gonna be just like some of the kids at Hogwarts. He needs you to be the older brother that Captain Kirk can't be. Just like the firsties at school were looking up to you. Okay, most of the firsties; Ginny, Colin and Dennis were exceptions._

"I'll do it." Harry said. The rock solid conviction that he would be there for Peter ringing in his voice. 

 

Several hours later, Peter began to stir. Harry had been working on his studies in foreign language: Gorn. Lt.Uhura had decided to work with him on learning the language, after testing had shown that he had a talent for it. He had been surprised to learn that she spoke six different Earth languages fluently, as well as Tellarite and Andorian. She was always interested in learning another. Harry was very careful not to mention that Gorn was similar to Parseltounge, in the sense that French or Spanish on Earth had been similar to Latin, or Old English similar to modern English. If he concentrated, Harry found that he could understand parts of the Gorn language. While the sounds were very similar to Parseltongue, the sentence structure and wording itself were different. It wasn't hard, just annoying to try and remember the differences between the two. 

Peter began to moan and try to move but seemed to be having trouble. It was almost as if he knew what he wanted his body to do, but wasn't sure how to do it. Harry put his hand on the boy's shoulder just to let him know that someone was there. After a moment Peter calmed down and began to wake. 

"Easy there. How are you feeling?" asked Harry

"Sore all over. What's going on, and who are you? I don't remember anyone being so young and in Starfleet," replied Peter, the soreness evident in his voice. 

Harry chuckled lightly and replied "I'm Harry Potter and I'm not Starfleet. I'm actually 16 and just a passenger like you. As for what's going on, well, you're in the _Enterprise's_ sickbay getting better after getting attacked by some sort of brain sucking thing. I don't really know all the details. I got locked up in my room when you got brought up here." 

"Oh. I can remember what happened to my da…dad. I really tried to stop that thing, but the pain.... I passed out I guess. I know one of those things attacked my mom as well. Is she…" Peter asked with a look of hope and somehow loss on his face. 

Harry looked down and just shook his head. 

Peter closed his eyes and began to cry

Harry leaned over and pulled Peter into a hug and rubbed his back like he imagined his mum would have done. He just let Peter cry on his shoulder and quietly vowed that he was going to do his best to be Peter's 'older brother' regardless of what Jim Kirk or the rest of the Kirk family thought about it.

When Peter settled down to just a few sniffles, Harry let him go and began to speak. "Peter, I won't pretend to know what you're feeling. I lost my mum and dad when I was one, so I don't remember them like you do yours, but I miss them anyway. If you want me to, I'll be here for you. Okay? Now, let me tell you about this strange kid you're going to be rooming with while you're getting better."

Peter looked at Harry with a relieved expression on his face. "You want to put up with me? But you're older and, well… I don't know." 

Harry just smiled and said "Yep, I do. Now let me tell you how I got onboard. You see, your uncle and some of the crew found me…"

Dr. Leonard H McCoy, MD, Starfleet Chief Medical Officer, quietly turned around and walked away from the alcove with a smile slowly crossing his face. 

 

Harry was down in sickbay, working on his biology homework this time. Dr. McCoy had asked him to be in sickbay today as the doctor was finishing up his final report to Starfleet Medical about Harry and wanted Harry's personal recommendations appended to the official report. Harry didn't mind that one bit. If his statements helped keep the Muggles from finding out about the Wizarding world, that would be a point in his favor when he got back to Earth and had to face the Wizengamot. 

As he continued to work on this biology homework, waiting for Dr. McCoy to call him into his office for personal input, Captain Kirk came into sickbay and went straight into Dr. McCoy's office. 

Harry tried to concentrate on his homework but couldn't help overhearing the conversation through the open door. 

"Bones, are you sure about those recommendations in your report?" asked the captain in a concerned voice. 

"Jim, you know how accurate those psych tests are. There is no way that Harry is ever going to become some madman because of his abilities. If anything, he's more likely to go hunting people like Kodos, Col. Green, or Kahn and bring them to justice. That kid's got one hell of a moral compass. Heck, even if you did catch him doing something that he shouldn't be, I'll bet he would be doing it because it's the right thing to do or he's trying to protect someone," was McCoy's response. 

Harry was surprised at the concern in the Captains voice, he wondered if they had run across a wizard or witch in the past who was completely insane. He didn't know, and right now digging around to find out would be bad, very bad. 

"Okay Bones, I get the message. It's just….well, you know," said a tired sounding Kirk. 

"I understand Jim. I do have some good news about Peter," said an upbeat Dr. McCoy.

"Really, what is it?" the change in Kirk's tone was like night and day. 

"I give Peter another week at most and he'll be fully recovered. I'm going to suggest that he get checkups on Earth about every six months just to be safe, but as far as I'm concerned, he's healed up nicely." said Dr. McCoy.

Harry smiled at that. Peter had been Harry's roommate for three weeks now, ever since Peter had woken up after being attacked by the Blastroneurons that killed his parents on Deneva. Peter was very studious and driven to do his best, but at the same time fun-loving and mischievous. All in all, Peter reminded Harry of a cross between Hermione and Ron, with a bit of Dennis Creevy thrown in for sheer youth and enthusiasm. Harry treated him like the little brother that he wished he had. Yes, they got on each others nerves at times, but Harry made sure that Peter knew he was there for him like a brother should be. 

Harry went back to the biology problem as Captain Kirk left sickbay heading back to the Bridge. Regardless of how much Harry may have wanted to visit the Bridge, it wasn't allowed. Even though he had passed the evaluation of his magic with flying colors, the possibility of accidental magic was there and Harry had no desire to blow up the ship. 

A few Minutes later Dr. McCoy called Harry into his office. He went in and sat down with a curious look on his face. 

Dr McCoy noticed Harry's expression and asked "What's on your mind Harry?"

Harry looked down at the floor. "Captain Kirk ran across someone with abilities like mine that harmed him and this ship, didn't he?"

McCoy just shook his head. "So, you heard that did you? Well, Harry, it's not my place to tell what happened, but the Captain's issues with your abilities are not your fault. He knows this, but it's a concern for him. Just remember it's not your fault okay? 

Harry looked up at the Doctor. "You're sure? 

Bones just smiled and let his southern accent come to the fore and said "Trust your ol' country doctor here. He'll tell when he can. Now, let's get to work on your piece of this here report."

 

Harry and Peter were down on the Enterprise's recreation deck. The two boys were playing what appeared to be a high tech version of Battleship against a pair of the younger engineers. Several of the crew were looking on and the youngest member, Janice Rand was giving Harry and Peter advice. 

"Look, if you move here," she said pointing to a spot on their screen, "you're screened from their heavies that are coming around from there."

Harry continued to study the screen while Peter looked up at the young blond and asked. "But what about their lightweights? They creamed us last time."

Any response that Janice was going to make was interrupted by the lights on the recreation deck switching to red and an abrasive buzzing sound starting. Blaring above the alarm, Captain Kirks voice boomed out "Red Alert! All hands Man your battle stations! This is not a drill."

The crew scattered in all directions, heading to their battle stations. Harry watched the retreating Janice Rand for a moment with a slightly goofy look "Got to love those women's uniforms," he muttered, before grabbing a confused Peter by the arm. "Peter! Something's happening. We've got to get back to our room right now!" 

"What's going on, Harry? Any idea?" asked Peter

"You know as much as I do, Pete. Now, let's move it!" responded Harry as he began to pull Peter towards the door. The two teens ran back to their room, knowing full well that at that moment it was the safest place to be. 

 

After a period of time the Red Alert had been canceled and life returned to normal for the two teens. Based on the discussions they overheard, it had been some kind of false alarm, and the captain wasn't happy about it.

Back on the recreation deck, Peter watched as Harry and Mr. Sulu had squared off in the flight simulator again. Initially, Harry had taken to using the simulator because it was as close as he could get to being back on his broom. Sulu had seen Harry playing around with a simulation of a De Havilland Otter, flying over Alaska, and had offered him some tips. They had soon had moved on to other aircraft types. 

Peter found it fascinating to watch, as both Harry and Sulu seems to have an almost instinctual feel for flight physics. While Peter had trouble keeping up, the scientific aspects were attractive to him. In the meantime, Harry and Sulu had gotten it into their heads to see which one was the best flyer of early aircraft. So far, Sulu was winning the contest, having beaten Harry in seven out of the ten matchups. Harry was still improving, though, and there were people betting that someday soon Harry was going to be giving Sulu nothing but draws, or outright winning. Currently, Harry was in, of all things, a Japanese Ki-84 'Frank' and Sulu was piloting an F6F 'Hellcat'. So far it seemed to be a fairly even matchup, though Peter was betting Sulu was going to pull something out of his bag of tricks and Harry would be going down in flames. 

Two members of the crew stopped to watch the dogfight on the observation screens and managed to distract Peter with their conversation. 

"Yea, damned thing scared the snot out of me when it dropped out of warp right next to the station. They claim that they only want some shore leave. The captain, from what I understand, can't stop them but he was able to limit it to no more than five or ten at a time. I don't remember the exact number right now," said one of them. 

The other responded to that with a snort. "Riiight. Shore leave my ass. They're probably here to spy on what's going on, or to do something regarding Sherman's Planet. I don't trust them any further than I can throw them. Come on, lets go see where we are on the roster to go over to the station." 

As the two crewmen moved off, Peter was thinking about their conversation and not paying attention to the dogfight. _Going over to K-7 would be a change of scenery and might be fun. Who knows what we'd find over there. I'll ask Uncle Jim about letting me and Harry go over there when Harry gets out of the simulator. He's got to say yes. What's the worst that could happen over there? Someone trips and falls down? Someone gets a hangnail? Space stations are safe places._

Lost in his thoughts, he missed the end of the dogfight. Even though Harry lost, Sulu's fighter had gotten plenty chewed up in the process. 

 

Harry and Peter walked into the bar/lounge area of the station. "Pete, I don't see why you wanted to come over here; there's a lot more to do on the _Enterprise_." 

Peter looked at Harry like he had two heads. "Harry, you don't get it, do you? This isn't the _Enterprise_ ; it's a change of scenery. I'm sick of being cooped up on that ship. Besides that, who knows what we'll find?" 

Harry just rolled his eyes at the younger boy's enthusiasm. "Ok, I'll give you that, but in all honesty, if you've seen one bar you've pretty much seen them all. There might be a trader or two here with something wicked for sale, but I'd rather get back to the ship before your uncle finds out we've left. He'll have our hides if he finds out."

"Uncle Jim won't find out anything, as long as we don't do anything stupid," Peter insisted in manner of all teenage boys who are doing things that they really shouldn't do.

The two boys sat down at a table, and a waitress took their orders. As they were sipping their drinks, Harry looked over at one of the other tables and noticed Mr. Scott, Mr. Chekov and another officer that he didn't recognize trying to ignore a dark-skinned alien who wanted their attention. "Pete, take a glance over your left shoulder and tell me what you see," Harry requested nervously. 

"Looks like a drunk Klingon messing with… oh shit, that's not good"

"Let's get back to the ship. I've got a bad feeling about this." 

The boys got up and went over to the bar, where they handed their glasses to the bartender. As they moved surreptitiously towards the exit, they started to hear the raised voice of the Klingon officer carrying over the noise.

"...she should be hauled away AS garbage!" 

Harry glanced over at Commander Scott, whose face had frozen in a very dangerous-looking smirk. He looked a bit like Snape used to, just before he'd dock a hundred points from Gryffindor. Harry reached out and grabbed Pete's arm, ready to hurry him forward and out of the area, but they hadn't gone two steps before the Klingon who had been harassing Mr. Scott came flying in their direction, propelled by the chief engineer's fist. The Klingon plowed right into the two boys and all three went down in a heap. As they struggled to get up, the entire room exploded into a fight scene right out of an Old West movie.

The Klingon, eager to return to the fray, grew frustrated with the two boys who were impeding his progress. He swung an elbow, landing it on the kneeling Peter's cheek and sending the young boy head first into the side of the bar where he collapsed into unconsciousness. Then he kicked Harry in the chest to free his entangled leg and waded back into the fight, grinning like a maniac.

Harry struggled back to his feet, wanting nothing more than to get Peter and himself off this station and back to the _Enterprise_ before Security showed up. But when he saw Peter, a younger boy he should have been protecting, lying next to the bar out cold, Harry saw red. His anger and helplessness at his situation, his fears for the friends he'd left behind in mortal peril, all rose to the surface and Harry's temper finally snapped. He spun around and found the Klingon that started the whole mess, about go after Mr. Scott. 

"OH NO YOU DON"T!" Harry yelled as he dove into the fray, blood thundering in his ears. 

 

Harry and Peter stood at attention at the far end of the line, hoping and praying that Peter's uncle, the Captain of the _U.S.S. Enterprise_ , James T. Kirk, wouldn't notice them as he went up and down the head end of the line. 

"I want to know who started it," Kirk stated with an impatient tone to his voice "I'm waiting."

He stopped in front of an Ensign in engineering red and asked in a no-nonsense tone "Who started the fight?" 

"I don't know sir," the Ensign replied, clearly embarrassed at being singled out by the Captain. 

"Alright," replied Kirk in a pleasant tone. Harry realized that that guy honestly didn't know who had started the fight, and Kirk seemed to know that as well. 

Kirk moved down the line to another officer, this one in a gold shirt. "Chekov. I know you, you started it didn't you?" 

"No Sir, I didn't," replied Chekov, the tone of his voice indicating that while he didn't start the fight, he clearly wished that he had. 

"Well then, who did?" 

"I don't know sir," was Chekov's reply. The smile on Chekov's face told the truth of the matter, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to sell out the person who threw the first punch. 

"'I don't know, indeed." The sarcasm dripping off Kirk's reply was almost visible. 

"Very well, I want to know who started the fight." The tone in Kirk's voice brooked no arguments. "Mr. Scott, stay here for a moment. The rest of you are confined to quarters until I find out. Dismissed" 

The column of crewmen did a right face and proceeded to file out past the Captain and Mr. Scott. As Harry and Peter walked past, a hand grasped each boy's shoulder. 

"Don't think I didn't see the two of you at the end of the line," Kirk growled, clearly disappointed at the two of them. 

"Busted." The look on Peter's face said that he wished he could find a rock to hide under.

"Listen you two, when I told you that you weren't allowed to go over to K-7, it was because of the Klingons. They have been known to kill people, if they think that person has disgraced their honor somehow." Kirk was serious in tone and manner but there was an undercurrent of worry in his voice. 

Both boys looked down at the deck in shame. A small sniffle escaped from Peter as he realized that his Uncle Jim really cared about him. Harry felt like a heel for letting Peter get and himself into a potentially lethal situation. 

"Boys, look at me." 

Both Harry and Peter looked up at the Captain. 

"In a week, a ship will be here to take you back to Earth. We'll be staying that long. In the meantime you'll be confined to your room unless you're working for Mr. Scott. You're going to be his runners and cleanup down in engineering as punishment, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir!" both boys replied eagerly. They liked hanging around with the younger engineers.

"One more thing," Kirk said with a lighthearted tone to his voice. 

"Sir?" 

"Peter, I will be telling your grandmother about this stunt." 

Peter looked at his uncle in disbelief. "Not Nana!" 

"Yep," Kirk said with a smile. 

"Damn, I'm so grounded now."

Captain Kirk looked at the two teenagers and sighed.   
"Now you two, go to your room until Mr. Scott calls for you," the captain ordered. 

The boys took off like the teenagers that they were. 

Harry couldn't help but hear, "Scotty, now who started…" before the door closed behind them. 

 

Three days later Harry was down in the shuttlebay. Mr. Scott had assigned him to work with Lt. Sotello in shuttle maintaince. Harry was currently cleaning a piece of a thruster assembly. It was hard work, and while it was a dirty job, Harry was happy to be doing it. He felt it was appropriate for him after letting Peter talk him into going over to K-7 and then getting into a fight with Klingons, of all things. 

Harry had taken the time to look up Klingons in the ship's database. What he had found had surprised him. Not much was known about their culture aside they took Honor VERY personally. He had also found out that they were stronger, faster and loved to fight. Harry had decided that if he ever ran across another Klingon, he'd do his best to stay out of their way if at all possible. 

Harry was trying to remove a particularly stubborn piece of residue from one of the nozzles when Lt. Sotello called him over. 

"Harry, the Captain wants you to come to his office. He wants to talk to you about something," said Sotello.

"Any idea of what it's about, sir?" asked Harry curiously. 

"Nope, but you'd better get up to his office. So get moving, I'll finish up here." Sotelleo dismissed Harry with a wave of his hand. 

Harry took off at a fast walk to the Captain's office. He didn't know what the Captain wanted, but when the Captain calls, you go. Upon his arrival Harry knocked on the door. 

"Enter!" was the response that Harry heard. The door slid open and Harry walked into the office and stopped in front of Captain Kirk's desk.

"You wished to speak with me sir?" asked Harry curiously. 

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble. Please have a seat," replied Kirk

Harry sat down and looked at Kirk, waiting for the Captain to begin. 

Kirk regarded Harry for a moment then said "Mr. Potter… Harry, I need to explain a few things to you so you know why I have been standoffish to you." 

Harry wondered what brought this on, but listened closely.

"Harry, just over a year ago we had two incidents where humans were given abilities that were very similar to yours; much more advanced but similar nonetheless. The problem was that their gifts drove them mad or caused them to lash out in ways that made them a danger to everyone onboard. In addition to that, an incident occurred just before Guardian spat you out that affected me personally. The memories of those two previous incidents, on top of this last incident… well, I haven't given you a fair chance." 

"I can understand that, sir, but why tell me now?" asked Harry. He realized that the Captain was trying to apologize, but was curious as to why now. 

"Well, since you got here, I have gotten reports about you that are completely different from what I was expecting from someone with your abilities. Also, I'm grateful to you for being a 'big brother' to Peter, since I couldn't be there for him as much as I'd have liked. Then, there was this last incident on K-7, where you went after the Klingon that provoked the fight. That's one of the bravest things I've heard of. A sixteen year old kid attacking a fully trained Klingon warrior and knocking him out. That's when I finally realized I was wrong about you. You're a good kid, Harry, and when you and Peter leave for Earth in a few days, I'm going to miss both of you. I guess that I'm trying to say… I'm sorry." Kirk said sincerely. 

Harry was surprised by the admission and the apology, but still responded with a polite "Thank you sir. I understand." 

Kirk stood up from behind the desk and came over to Harry "You and Peter are off restriction for the remaining time you're here. Just don't go over to K-7 until it's time to leave. I'll tell Mr. Scott."

"Yes, sir! Is that all?" replied Harry 

"Yes that's… well, there is one last thing." stated Kirk

"Sir?" asked Harry, clearly wondering what the Captain had to say. 

"Captain Koloth, the commander to the Klingon cruiser, wanted me to pass a message to you. He said that aboard his ship, your actions spoke of great personal honor and that Ensign Krulack holds no grudge against your house and would be honored to fight with you in the future. I won't pretend to know what that means to a Klingon, but I think that you've made a friend over there."

"Umm…I guess so sir. I have no clue either, but it might be interesting." said Harry. He was a bit surprised by that message. He had no idea what it might mean in the future, but he got the impression that this sort of thing from the Klingons was pretty rare. 

Kirk smiled and said "Now go on, get Peter and go get some dinner." 

 

Harry left Captain Kirk's office to go get Peter. He knew that Peter was down in the engineering spaces acting as a runner for Mr. Scott. Instead of taking the turbolift, Harry decided to take one of the ladders down to the proper deck. He did this on occasion when he felt like he had extra energy to burn. After the meeting with the Captain, he felt the need for the exercise.

As Harry reached the landing on the deck above the Engineering deck, he heard a soft cooing sound that was very familiar to him. He stopped and looked in the vent on the landing and was extremely surprised with what he saw.

"Son of a… What the bloody hell is a Puffskien doing here?" he asked out loud.   
Harry decided to get the small furry creature out of the vent so it wouldn't get hurt. It took him a few moments but he soon had the purring puffball in his hand.

"Well, little fella, I'm going to need to get some stuff from the botany labs to keep you healthy. But don't worry, I'll take care of you." Harry figured that while a Puffskien isn't Hedwig, it was a magical creature and would remind him of home. 

 

Harry had decided to name the little red Puffskien he'd found Ron, mainly because it liked to eat like his friend. All. The. Time. 

For a while, it seemed like there had been Puffskien's everywhere on the ship, but then, one day, they all vanished. Harry had kept his in his quarters, so no one knew he still had it.

Today, though, Harry and his pet were down in sickbay as Dr. McCoy was finishing up the paperwork regarding Harry's educational progress aboard. Harry was going to be leaving for Earth in less than twenty-four hours and this was necessary for his finishing his education on Earth. Dr. McCoy stopped to look at Ron happily munching in its cage. 

"Harry, where did you get that tribble?"

"I found it in an air duct a while back. Its name is Ron, because it eats so much." 

"You've been feeding it? Why isn't it breeding?" asked a curious McCoy

"You just douse its water with a little mint. Natural birth control for these things. They love it so much that they could actually wipe their own population out if there's too much mint in the area," was Harry's absent minded response.

A surprised Dr. McCoy asked "How do you know that?"

Realizing that he had slipped up a bit, Harry did some fast thinking before he responded.

"Well sir, remember that there was a bunch of genetic engineering going on back when I come from. One of the girls in my classes, her dad was genetic engineer and got hold of some before they were supposed to be released as a designer pet called a Puffskien. Never really happened as far as I know. After a lot of begging from the girls he sent a few up to the school as pets. The instructions that came with them told us to give them some mint if you didn't what them to reproduce." 

Dr. McCoy just stopped for a moment and seemed to be thinking. Then he shook his head and changed the subject.

"Okay Harry, you're pretty much caught up. Just keep working on the modules and you will be more than ready for school when you get back to Earth. Now I've got some things to take care of here. Go on back to your cabin and get packed up. Make sure that Peter is fully packed as well. Don't forget to take 'Ron' with you; Scotty wouldn't be happy if you left it here," said McCoy. 

Harry picked up Ron and headed back to his room to finish packing. He was heading back to Earth tomorrow and hopefully to a bright future.


	4. Home Sweet...Home?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

Chapter 4: Home Sweet…Home? 

 

Harry was a bit surprised the next morning when Captain Kirk came down to his and Peter's quarters to take them to the transporter room. He knew that Kirk was in preparations to leave K-7 and hadn't thought he would have time to see Peter off. 

Kirk smiled at the two boys. "Come on guys, It's time to leave. As much as I might want you to stay, an active duty starship is no home for a pair of growing boys. I received word on what's going to happen once you get back to Earth. Peter, your grandmother will be picking you up after your evaluations at Starfleet Medical are done. I don't know how long that's going to take, but Dr. McCoy figures around two weeks, maybe less. On the trip back, she wants you to call her a couple of times to let her know how things are going. Harry, I know that you've been looking into how the Federation handles orphans, so I won't rehash what you already know. But in the short term, you can also figure on roughly two weeks at Starfleet Medical. It will be along the same lines as Peter's, though the Federation Historical council is also going to want to interview you on general life in the twentieth century. Anyway guys, grab your stuff and let's go. Harry, don't forget your tribble; Mr. Scott will go nuts if you leave him behind." 

Harry and Peter picked up their small packs and Harry remembered to grab 'Ron's' cage. Not much was said on the trip to the transporter room, just the occasional "good luck" to the boys from passing crewmembers. 

When they entered the transporter room, Harry and Peter were surprised to see the entire command staff in attendance. Captain Kirk broke into a boyish grin and explained. "Boys, everyone wanted a chance to say goodbye to you, so we all came down here to do that. There are a couple of ensigns manning the bridge; I figure they’re either scared to death or having the time of their lives." 

Mr. Spock came up first. "Gentlemen, it has been satisfying to be your instructor. Mr. Potter, your abilities are…fascinating. I expect you to continue developing them, and should the opportunity arise in the future, I would like a full demonstration of what you are capable of. Mr. Kirk, you have the capability to be an intellectual force to be reckoned with. Do not allow your efforts to be diverted into anything less than what you are capable of, if possible. I will be looking forward to reading of your discoveries."

Spock drew himself to his full height and raised the Vulcan salute. "Live long and prosper," he said seriously. 

Harry and Peter both stood straight and responded with the same salute, but Peter also managed to respond in Vulcan. "Peace and long life, Spock" 

Spock raised an eyebrow in response and Harry thought he saw a ghost of a smile cross Mr. Spock's usually passive expression. Perhaps he imagined it, though. 

Lt. Uhura came up to them next. "Peter, you take care of yourself and I'm sure that you're going to be fine back on Earth. Just be yourself and you'll find yourself with more friends than you expect. Oh, yeah, keep this troublemaker under control," she finished with a teasing tone and a bright smile while jerking a thumb at Harry. 

Peter began to giggle and responded with, "Okay, Miss Penda, I'll keep an eye on Harry." Uhura had given both boys permission to call her by her old childhood nickname.

Harry just looked at Peter and rolled his eyes, with a look that said, 'Kid brothers, what can you do with them?'

Lt. Uhura stepped over to Harry and gave him a hug that strongly reminded him of Molly Weasley. Once she let him go, she gave him a mischievous look and spoke to him in very simple Gornese. _"Child, keep from trouble on your journey, and care for the hatchling. Though not visible, he hurts for his lost parents. He will need your help and guidance as he grows. Be well, and when we next meet, I hope to see your mastery of the True Tongue. And you will introduce me to your girlfriend, if you have one at the time."_

Harry blushed in response and responded with, _"I will strive to obey, Teacher. Journey safely. I hope to surprise you the next time I see you." ___

__

__Mr. Sulu came up next and told Peter "You're a good kid Peter, take care of yourself. You'll be fine back on Earth." Sulu then looked at Harry. " Harry, you're going to be one hell of a pilot one of these days. If you decide to go to the Academy, I want to take you on in a modern craft when you've finished. Oh yeah, the guys down in shuttle maintaince and I made this up for you."_ _

__Sulu handed an envelope over to Harry. Inside was a circular embroidered patch, showing the Enterprise shooting through a starfield. Across the top were the words 'U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C-1701'; on the bottom was the Latin phrase, 'Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit'._ _

__As Harry looked at the patch, he found himself choked up and couldn't respond. Mr. Sulu just nodded at Harry and didn't say anything._ _

__Mr. Scott spoke up next. "'Arry, Peter, the lads down in engineering wanted me ta tell ya that yer welcome back anytime. That goes fer me too, but leave that tribble at home, 'arry!"_ _

__"Yes, Mr. Scott, no bringing 'Ron' back aboard," was Harry's smiling response._ _

__Finally Dr. McCoy stepped up to say his goodbyes, his Southern accent coming to the fore. "Boys, now you behave yourselves on your way home. When y'all get to medical, don't you go letting them just make up tests on the fly. I did a good job with both of you and I don't want to hear nothing about them messing up my work, 'specially them lookin' into your 'bilities, Harry. Now get goin' you young'ns -- we don't want them transport boys blamin' us fer bein' late."_ _

__Harry and Peter both smirked at the doctor's antics and stepped up to the transporter pad. Having already been on a few trips through this mode of travel, Harry had decided it was no worse than the Floo, and at least he didn't fall down at the other end._ _

__Captain Kirk moved next to Mr. Scott behind the transporter control stand and called, "Have a good trip, boys. I will check up on both of you from time to time, so be good okay?"_ _

__"Ok, Uncle Jim!" was Peters' response, while Harry replied "Yes, sir!"_ _

__"Mr. Scott…Energize."_ _

__With that last command, Harry and Peter disappeared from the Enterprise and on to new lives._ _

__

__Harry's first look at the transport ship was a surprise. He had thought that they were going to be heading back to Earth in a larger version of the shuttlecraft that he'd seen on the Enterprise. However, the ship he saw was much larger than he expected. Harry guessed it was almost half again larger than the Enterprise._ _

__The trip itself would take three weeks to get back to Earth, as they made stops every few days to pick up passengers that were returning to Earth for one reason or another. Harry was amazed at the variety of species that were members of the Federation._ _

__Peter's previous enthusiasm for taking the transport, which Harry had viewed with some doubt and trepidation, turned out to be justly deserved. The accommodations and entertainment reminded Harry of pictures he'd seen in cruise ship brochures his Aunt Petunia had left lying around the house as hints to Uncle Vernon. Harry asked some of the crewmembers why the ship was fitted out with such luxury, and was informed that this ship was usually a colonist transport ship. The Federation, it seemed, took the attitude that 'Your ride will be as comfortable as possible, because the colony won't be.' Harry and Peter spent a few hours every day studying, and the rest of the time just relaxing and having a good time._ _

__When Harry and Peter arrived at Earth, they were escorted to Starfleet Medical Command in Palo Alto. For the most part, the two weeks that Harry and Peter were there were pretty much exactly what Dr. McCoy had described to them. Peter was being tested six different ways from Sunday to make sure that the Blastroneurons that attacked him had been completely eradicated, and that there was no chance of even the smallest scrap regenerating._ _

__As for Harry, he was subjected to the same tests that Dr. McCoy had performed, as well as several new ones. During the testing of his magic, he did his best to overpower his spellcasting in the hopes of attracting the attention of some part of the magical government that was sure to be in the area. The San Francisco Bay Area, after all, was heavily populated, so there should be at least an Auror office nearby that would notice the discharges._ _

__Unfortunately, he got nothing: no warning owls, no visits from any magical representatives, nothing. On the positive side, he was learning just as much as the doctors were about what made Wizards and Witches different from muggles. According to the test series, Harry's entire metabolic and neurological system was just a bit more efficient than the norm. He also found out that there were certain parts of his brain that were active that generally speaking were dormant in most other humans. Harry didn't understand all of their explanations, but he accepted them._ _

__In some of the periods between his testing sessions and the time Harry spent studying, members of the Federation historical council had stopped by to ask him questions about growing up in the late twentieth century. He answered their questions as best as he could, though he would be the first to admit that his childhood had been anything but normal._ _

__About halfway through his stay at Starfleet Medical, an incident occurred that Harry was still shaking his head about. One afternoon Harry had been studying in his room when there was a knock at the door._ _

__"Come in," called Harry._ _

__A man of average height and looks came in, wearing a modern business suit. He had an odd jeweled starburst on his lapel that seemed to be a badge of office of some type._ _

__"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. I'm James Browder, one of the undersecretaries for the Federation consulate over in San Francisco. I'd like to welcome you to the twenty-third century; if there's anything that we can do for you, please let us know," the man said congenially._ _

__Harry looked at the man for a moment before responding. He wasn't acting like an oily slimebag the way Fudge had, nor did he seem to be trying to suck up like a remora to a shark in the manner of Percy 'Weatherby'. Harry didn't know what the man's game was, but his experiences with government officials (Mr. Weasley aside) had left him with a deep-seated distrust._ _

__"Thank you Mr. Browder," Harry replied warily. "Please have a seat. What can I do for you?"_ _

__Mr. Browder sat down in a chair and began. "Not a thing, Mr. Potter. I'm here as more of an advance guard, so to speak. Mr. Potter--may I call you Harry?"_ _

__Harry nodded his head._ _

__"Harry, the Klingon Military Attaché has asked to speak with you. I don't know why. Since you're new to this century, I wouldn't expect you to know much about the Klingons; they can be extremely intimidating and...well, frankly this one is a bit more intimidating than most. Do you have any idea of why he might want to speak with you?" Mr. Browder asked with honest curiosity._ _

__Harry sat back in thought. _What would the Klingons want to speak with me for? It can't be about the fight back on K-7--Captain Kirk told me the Klingon commander wasn't angry about that at all._ _ _

__"Mr. Browder, I don't have any idea why. The one and only contact I've had with the Klingons was brief, and purely by accident. Prior to that, I'd never even heard of them before."_ _

__"How odd," replied Browder. He looked down at the watch on his wrist and then stood up. "Harry, the Attaché will be here in a minute. I'll bring him up and we'll see what he wants."_ _

__After Mr. Browder left the room, Harry stood up and moved to look out the window at the grounds. He found the view peaceful and relaxing. He looked over the tops of the scrub oaks at the old Stanford University Hoover Tower, its yellow sandstone walls standing out against the more modern buildings that had sprung up around it. While taking in the view he wondered what the Klingons wanted with him._ _

__As Harry contemplated the view, his musings were interrupted by three loud bangs on the door._ _

__"Come in!" repeated Harry in a loud voice._ _

__The door opened and Mr. Browder entered, followed by a very large Klingon warrior. He was roughly 7 feet tall and wearing a Black and Gray leather uniform. If Harry had to guess, he weighed in at least 300 pounds of pure muscle. Harry suddenly remembered two things. First, Captain Kirk had said that the Klingons had a highly developed sense of personal honor, and second, Harry remembered seeing part of the movie _Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence_ through the crack in the door of his cupboard back at the Dursleys. Specifically, he remembered the Japanese guards demanding the prisoners bow to all the guards, because the guards were the superiors and prisoners were supposed to honor their superiors. _ _

___Well this Klingon is superior to me in size and experience--I'll bow to him and hope he doesn't decide to use me as a toothpick._ _ _

__Harry bowed to the Klingon without taking his eyes off him._ _

__The Klingon stopped short and looked at Harry for a moment. "This is the youngster that defeated General Moog's son? Stand up straight! Let me get a good look at you!" This command was followed by a deep chuckle._ _

__The Klingon suddenly stood ramrod straight and spoke, his eyes sparkling as though he found something in Harry's appearance that amused him. "Qapla', Harry, son of the House of Potter. I am Commander Kimpoc, first born son of General Kimpec of the Klingon High Council. I have been tasked with the honor of passing a message and a gift from the House of Moog."_ _

__Harry blinked in confusion for a moment before responding. "Commander, I'm a bit confused. Why would the House of Moog want to give me a message and a gift? I'm not questioning them or refusing the gift, I just don't understand."_ _

__Kimpoc's booming laughter filled the room. "Honesty, and Honor in a Human! I'd never have guessed it. Browder, keep an eye on this one. If he puts his mind to it, he'll change the galaxy. Potter, let me explain. When Krulack began the fight on your outpost K-7, he was foolish. It was his first cruise and he had heard that humans were without honor, foolish and weak. That they would rather talk than settle a problem in an honorable fashion. He believed what he had been told and that was his mistake. When you attacked him, it was to avenge the injured child, and to prevent his assault on the engineer, Scott. When you succeeded in knocking him out, you taught him a valuable lesson: Do not believe everything you hear, and do not underestimate an opponent due to age or stature!"_ _

__Harry couldn't help but smile at the last comment. Kimpoc saw the expression and asked why the human smiled._ _

__Harry composed himself and tried to match the Klingon's formality of speech. "I learned that lesson in my eleventh year, Commander. I had a teacher whose head barely reached my waist and who was many decades my senior. Yet in many ways, he was one of the most skilled and dangerous men I ever met."_ _

__Kimpoc gave another deep laugh. "Exactly! Krulack has learned that lesson now as well, and will be a much more competent warrior for it."_ _

__Harry was speechless at this. He'd had no idea that his defending Peter and Mr. Scott would have interstellar implications._ _

__Kimpoc continued on in a softer tone. "Potter, we are somewhat aware of the circumstances regarding your recent history, prior to your arrival at K-7. The Klingon Empire has no desire to know the full extent of incident, as it has no bearing on the relations between our two governments. However, in you I can see the spirit of a warrior, and can wholeheartedly agree with the House of Moog's decision." Kimpoc brought forward a long metal case that Harry hadn't paid attention to previously._ _

__Kimpoc laid the case out on Harry's desk and opened it. "Potter, this is one of the Bat'le'th's of the House of Moog. They have decided to gift this to you as a token of respect to a fellow warrior. When you complete your training as warrior, they expect you to know how to use it properly."_ _

__"Training as a warrior? I don't understand," said Harry in a confused voice._ _

__"Yes, training as a warrior. You have the Spirit, the Fire , the Qa' Quv! Many in your species do not have these qualities, and sadly, many in mine do not either. Regardless of what you choose to do, it will reveal itself. Somehow, the House of Moog knows this and wants you to have the tool of a warrior. Do not disappoint them." Kimpoc slammed his fist to his chest and walked out of the room._ _

__Harry felt completely out of his depth with the situation. Not knowing what to do, he looked over at Mr. Browder._ _

__Browder ran his hand through his hair and shrugged. "Whooo boy, that was unexpected. I think I learned more about the Klingon society in the past five minutes than I have in the past year. Harry, I don't think that there's any precedent for something like this. I'll tell you what I think you should do. Personally, I'd do what they requested of you. Learn how to use that battle-eth thing. You'll probably have to learn how to read Klingon first. If you look closely in the case, you can see a cutout in the padding. I'll bet it has a training manual inside."_ _

__Harry moved closer to the case and did see the faint outline in the padding of a compartment cutout. He reached out and touched one the oddly shaped blade's grips._ _

__"Harry, officially that blade is yours, as is anything within the case. The Federation will not do anything to antagonize the Klingons in regards to this gift. That being said, we would like to copy the manual and make scans of the blade and case. We'll do it here, if you'd like--that way, you know you have the originals and they weren't swapped out for cheap copies." Browder said with an air of authority._ _

__Harry nodded his head, then stopped and looked at the older man. "Okay, Mr. Browder. I'm happy with doing the scans here and making copies of whatever manual might be with this sword. But what did you mean by not antagonizing the Klingons?"_ _

__"Harry, shortly before you arrived, the Federation and the Klingons were one step away from an interstellar war. An advanced race called the Organians put a stop to it and are enforcing an uneasy peace. Many of us within the diplomatic corps don't believe that this situation will hold forever, though. So we figure that if we can minimize or eliminate the small slights that may occur, then when the Organians decide to stop enforcing the peace, we may be able to prevent a war from breaking out._ _

__"I'll leave you now and go make arrangements in regards to the blade."_ _

__Mr. Browder quietly left the room, leaving Harry to ponder the gift and wonder why the weirdest things always seemed to happen to him._ _

__

__Two days before Harry and Peter were scheduled to leave Starfleet Medical, Winona Kirk arrived. She was a fairly tall woman whose light brown hair was liberally peppered with gray. When she arrived she found Harry and Peter playing volleyball with some of the other patients. Most of the patients on the two teams were adapting to bionic replacements for lost limbs and the staff felt it was good therapy. Harry and Peter were on opposite teams and the crowd of patients that were still too early in their recoveries were watching and were cheering the teams on._ _

__Harry yelled out "Come on chief! Put it right here!" he jutted his chin out daring the server on the other side to plant the volleyball in his face._ _

__Master Chief Yeary proceeded to try and do just that. He launched the volleyball like a rocket, just skimming the net and forcing Harry to dive to the side and eat dirt to prevent getting hit by the ball._ _

__The crowd burst out in laughter at Harry's antics as he rolled over laughing._ _

__Peter looked around at the crowd, laughing at Harry and enjoying the camaraderie. Suddenly, he spotted his grandmother watching the scene with a smile on her face._ _

__"NANA!" Peter yelled as he ran off the field to his grandmother and enveloped her in a hug._ _

__Harry looked on wistfully at the scene and then called out for two others to take his and Peter's places._ _

__Harry walked across the drive leading to the entrance to medical command and sat down quietly at the base of an ancient scrub oak._ _

___So this is how this part of my life ends. Peter goes with his family and I'm the friend that grows distant and becomes a fond memory. I'm glad for Pete, I really am, but it still hurts a little. He's one of the few that I can be myself with. Pete understands and doesn't push. I wonder if this is what would have happened at Hogwarts when I graduated. Me, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna: all slowly drifting apart._ _ _

__He didn't notice Chief Yeary coming up to him. Harry was a bit startled when the Chief sat down next to him, his new leg squeaking as he sat. "You gonna be okay, Gramps?" he asked Harry._ _

__Harry smiled at the nickname he'd been tagged with. Initially the patients had thought that they were both refugees from Deneva, as Peter was, brought back to Earth for treatment. However it had gotten out that Harry was the unfortunate victim of an alien device that had somehow snatched him from the twentieth century. Shortly afterwards one of the elderly fleet retirees that was there for treatment had labeled him "Gramps" in a fit of humor. After all, based on his birthdate, Harry ought to be 286 years old. Harry felt it was better than being called The Boy-Who-Lived, or whatever euphemism the Daily Prophet used to label him for their story of the day._ _

__"Yeah, I'll be fine Chief. It's just…" Harry waived his hand in the Kirk family's direction._ _

__"Hmmm, I see. Harry, let me tell you something that has taken me 25 years to figure out. Even if Peter goes with his family and you go over to the dependents' school by Telescope Hill, this galaxy is actually pretty small. You'll probably see Pete when you least expect it, and the two of you will pick up right were you left off. I know it's a fact 'cause I felt the same way when I finished basic. And sure enough, I keep running across people that I knew there in the oddest places. Now, it looks like they are headed over here, better get up and go say hi."_ _

__"Thanks Chief, I'll remember that," said Harry as he got up. Harry walked over to them and said "Hey Peter. Good afternoon, Mrs. Kirk."_ _

__"Harry, this is my grandmother, Winona Kirk. She's going to be taking me in when its time to go," said Peter, the happiness evident in his voice._ _

__"So you're Harry Potter," stated Winona with a smile on her face. "I've heard so much about you."_ _

__"Yes, Ma'am," Harry replied._ _

__"Well, don't just stand there like a nervous Nellie, come with us. I haven't had lunch yet and I know it's right around time to eat," Winona beckoned with a smile._ _

__Harry wasn't sure why she wanted to have him come with them. He thought she would want to spend time with her grandson, not entertain a third wheel. However, he decided to go with them, as it wouldn't be polite to turn her down. Besides, Harry was curious about the lady who had raised Captain Kirk, and who would be a strong influence on Peter in years to come._ _

__Harry's remaining time at medical command was filled with paperwork and final testing, to just reconfirm the original test results. Winona Kirk insisted that Harry eat with her and Peter many times while she was there. After Harry's initial hesitancy during his first meeting with Winona, he had opened up and found that she was lively and interesting person to speak with. She was more widely read than he would have expected for someone who had spent their life farming. Harry eventually chalked her inquisitiveness to being married to a Starfleet officer and raising two boys that had gone out exploring the galaxy. Harry wondered if his own mother had been anything like Winona._ _

__The morning that Harry and Peter were scheduled to leave Medical Command, Dr. Liffereth, who had been Harry's primary doctor during his time there, stopped by Harry's room as he was packing up his stuff._ _

__"Ahh, Harry there you are, I knew that I should have come here first," Dr. Liffereth said in greeting. Harry smiled at the doctor's enthusiasm. He had come to realize that while the man was a brilliant researcher and physician, he was a bit scatterbrained with the more mundane things in life._ _

__"Hey, Doc, what can I do for you? It's not time to leave yet, is it?" asked a curious Harry. He knew that the doctor was planning to escort him over to the Admiral Hunter Dependents' School across campus at Telescope Hill, but he had thought that it wasn't going to be until the late afternoon._ _

__"Oh no, no, nothing like that my boy. There's been a minor change of plans. Nothing bad I assure you, but a change of plans that you might find enjoyable."_ _

__Harry looked at Dr. Liffereth warily; the last time he acted like this, he'd had Harry try to fire off some sort of magic while inside an MRI device. The resulting light show had had Harry thinking that Guy Fawkes day had come early. It had completely fried the machine, but the doctor had been bouncing around and acting like a cross between Professor Flitwick and a Mexican jumping bean when he had seen the data generated._ _

__"Ok, shoot. What's the change you're talking about Doc?" asked Harry curiously. Nothing that he could think of should be causing any changes in plans for the day._ _

__"Well Harry, I know that you really haven't had a family so to speak, but someone has come forward an asked to...well, for lack of a better term, foster you until you turn eighteen. Or two hundred and eighty-nine, as the case may be." Lifferth chuckled at his own joke. "Right now we all agree that this is the best choice for you, and I think that you'll agree, but you have the final decision. You can come in now," he called out to someone who was out of sight in the hall._ _

__Winona and Peter Kirk walked into the room. Peter was grinning like a fool, and Winona was smiling but had a nervous look in her eye._ _

__"Harry, I know that this is a bit of a surprise, but would you like to come live with us? I just think that you would do better if you had a family instead of living at a boarding school for the next two years. Besides, Peter could use an older brother to keep him under control," she said with a hopeful look on her face._ _

__Harry was stunned. The Dursleys had been his relatives, but they had never made any secret of their antipathy for him, and Harry had never really felt like he belonged there. And while the Weasleys had all but adopted him in some ways, no one had ever truly asked him to become part of their family before._ _

__Harry had no idea of what to say and just nodded. He was afraid that if he said anything, he would let his emotions get the better of him. His voice had been breaking enough all on its own lately._ _

__Winona just walked over and hugged him. It wasn't smothering like Molly Weasley's could be, but warm and comforting nonetheless. After a moment, she stepped back and held Harry at arm's length. "Peter has been asking for this for weeks, in every message he sent on your trip back to Earth. I'll admit, I was hesitant at first; Jimmy wasn't real comfortable with your abilities, and that came across when I asked him about you. But having spent some time with you, now, I can see that while you may be a bit of a handful, like Jimmy was at your age, you're a good boy, and not that different for all your fancy tricks and being older than Methuselah."_ _

__Harry chuckled and ducked his head, blushing at the woman's gentle ribbing._ _

__Winona pulled Harry into another, gentler hug, and after a moment, Peter came over and joined the two of them._ _

__"Welcome to the family, Harry Potter."_ _

____


	5. Wizard Hunting

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 5: Wizard Hunting

As soon as Harry, Winona and Peter arrived at the Kirk family farm, Harry asked for a meeting in the living room. Since Winona was his guardian for the foreseeable future, the Statute of Secrecy, which he had been doing his best to uphold up until now, allowed him to inform his immediate family about Wizards and Magic. The truth, this time, and not the flimsy stories he'd been feeding the Enterprise crew and the Starfleet doctors. 

Harry told Winona and Peter about growing up with the Dursleys, about their seemingly irrational hatred of him. He told them about turning his teacher's hair blue, and Apparating to the roof of the school, hints of his power that he would only later understand. He told them about his eleventh birthday, and recounted Hagrid's revelation of his heritage and his place in this new, magical world.

He told them about Hogwarts, and Voldemort, and the Department of Mysteries, where he ran afoul of the powers of Time and got himself lost. 

"The way the rules worked back in Britain, back in my time, every time I cast a spell here I should be getting a warning notice about underage magic, or even a visit from the magical constabulary," Harry explained as his story wound to a close. "I don't know why I'm not. Maybe the rules are different here, or maybe my wand is registering me as almost 287 years old. I don't know, but I do want to keep trying to track down some wizards, and maybe go back to Hogwarts and finish my schooling there."

Peter responses to the full truth of the matter were typical of a twelve year old boy, consisting mostly of variations on, "Let's see some more magic" and "Can you blow something up?" Winona Kirk, on the other hand, was quite a bit more logical about the whole matter. Eventually, when her curiosity had been satisfied she laid down ground rules for Harry, regarding how and where he could use magic. Mostly it consisted of no magic practice in the house without supervision. She told him he could clear out an area in the equipment barn for practice, but if he was going to try something dangerous, she wanted to be there just in case something went wrong so she could get help if needed.

She also agreed to allow him to take a trip to the British Isles at some point in the future, if his attempts to find answers or a magical population more locally didn't pan out.

Once the revelations and rules about magic had been taken care of, Winona informed both Peter and Harry that they were grounded for a week. She sentenced them to clean out the equipment barn by the house without the use of Harry's abilities. In the process, they could find an appropriate space for Harry to practice magic.

Peter had known that the punishment had been coming since the incident on K-7, but Harry asked why he was also being grounded. Winona's response had been "You knew better than to disobey Jimmy's orders, no matter how much my grandson pleaded. You are the older one; you should not have let Peter talk you into that. Besides, you need to learn how a farm works before I let you go off gallivanting in search of what happened to your friends." 

While Harry still felt it was a bit unfair to be grounded right away, he really couldn't fault the logic of needing to learn how the farm worked. A life in the suburbs and in a magical castle really wouldn't have prepared him for this.

 

Cleaning out the equipment barn had been an eye-opening experience. Harry had no idea that so much machinery was needed to grow crops and take care of livestock. Harry took back all the 'Mrs. Filch' comments that he had thought about his grounding and realized that Winona had actually done him a favor. He was going to have his work cut out for him with just learning how to run all this gear if he was ever going to be useful around the farm. 

Winona had laid out some specifics on what needed to be done and one of those was to clear out an area where Harry could work on his abilities without damaging the farm equipment. It made a lot of sense, given the fact that Harry didn't want to damage any of the electronics in the home or on any of the farm equipment. 

The majority of what Harry and Peter had to do was move all the large equipment out of its storage space and clean the bay that it was stored in. Mostly that consisted of just sweeping out the dust and organizing any peripherals for that piece of equipment so they could easily be found in that particular bay. 

On the last Saturday afternoon of their grounding, Harry and Peter were in the underground portion of the barn, where they finally reached the last four equipment bays. Three of the bays were empty, save for thick layers of dust covering the floors and workbenches. The last bay, while just as dirty, had several large tarps covering a rectangular object that was around fifteen feet long. Tarps also covered the shelves and workbench along one wall. 

"Harry, this part of the barn looks like a good spot for your magic pract… what is that?" asked Peter. His confusion upon seeing the covered object was understandable, as none of the other equipment in the barn had been stored covered like this.

"I have no idea, Pete," replied Harry. "It might be something old, or delicate, if it’s being stored this carefully. I don't want to risk breaking something, so before we uncover it, let's get the tarps off the workbench and shelves and see what's there. That might give us a clue." 

Removing the tarp on the workbench and shelves was easy enough, but the jumbled array of hand tools and boxed parts was a bit confusing at first. Harry looked at a stack of manuals arranged on one of the shelves and gasped. If this was what he thought it was, a true gem laid under the undisturbed tarp in the center of the bay. 

"Pete, we're getting that tarp off now. Let's go slowly, and fold it up while were taking it off. If this is what I think it is, we need to be careful so we don't damage it." 

"What's under there?" asked Peter. He was confused by the awe and reverence in Harry's voice. 

"A classic, Pete. A classic," was all Harry would say in response.

As they folded up the tarp covering the mystery object, Harry kept a tight rein on his emotions. It wouldn't do to have an accidental magic outburst now. The two boys took the folded tarp off the object and looked at it. 

Harry gasped and reverently laid a hand on the remains of the emblem on the front end. 

Sitting in the center of the bay was a wrecked 1965 Corvette convertible. 

The car looked like it had been driven off a cliff, but it was still recognizable as a 'vette. 

Harry had kept a very personal secret when he had been back in the twentieth century. When he was about eight years old, he had been hiding from Dudley and his gang during recess and had seen a mid 60's Corvette drive past the school. In the few seconds he had it in view, he had fallen in love with the car and had sworn that one day he would get away from the Dursleys and somehow own one that nobody was ever going to take away.

"What a piece of junk," was Peter's response to seeing the hulk. 

Harry looked at Peter like he had grown two heads before responding. "Pete, you have no idea of what a gem this is. Go get your grandmum and have her come here. I want to ask her about this."

As Peter ran off to go get Winona, Harry began to mentally catalogue what it would take to bring the old girl back to life. Since gasoline was no longer used to fuel any vehicles, he wondered if the motor had been adapted to run on hydrogen or some other type of fuel. A classic muscle car like this needed to have the heart-pounding sound and power behind her eye-catching looks. Harry also realized that while he could use magic to help rebuild the car, he'd have to damned careful around any electronics. That part was going to have to be done by hand.

Winona's reaction to seeing the old car had been unexpected. Apparently the car had belonged to her husband before they had met, and it brought back a lot of good memories. She told the boys about how young Jimmy Kirk had taken the car in a fit of teenaged angst after his father had passed away, and had ended up driving it off the bluffs overlooking the Iowa River in the next county over. When Harry and Peter's laughter at the thought of Jim Kirk being a rambunctious teenager stopped, Harry asked if he could make an attempt at restoring the old vehicle. Winona immediately agreed. Harry made a decision: while he might put his heart into restoring the car, it belonged to Winona and she deserved the memories a lot more than he did.

 

Harry spent his summer learning how the farm worked and getting to know the farmhands who came out to work the fields. He also worked on the restoring the car, and continued to work to get up to speed on the classes he would be taking in the fall at the local school, Highland High. Every evening, after supper, he worked on his magic and tried to attract the attention of any witches or wizards that might be nearby. It was frustrating that he never got a response. 

When he was finishing unpacking several days after arriving in Iowa, Harry had found, at the bottom of his pack, the bundle of clothing he'd been wearing when he'd been blasted out of the twentieth century, including his Hogwarts robe. Wrapped up in the middle of the bundle was the small, glass prophecy sphere from the Department of Mysteries. He'd not messed with it before, either on the Enterprise or on the transport back to Earth, since he didn't know how much active magic it might put out and he didn't want to fry any of the ships' systems. He'd forgotten all about it until now.

After Winona was told the story behind the object, she asked to join him in the equipment barn when he tried to activate it. Since this was an unknown magical object, it fell under her instructions about doing anything potentially dangerous. 

Fortunately, all it took was a simple tap with Harry's wand to start the playback. Harry recognized the voice; it was his Divination professor, and specifically, it was the same voice she'd used back in third year for the prophecy about Wormtail. This prophecy was, if anything, even more disturbing, and it left Harry with more questions than answers. 

On evenings that he didn't try to get noticed by witches and wizards, Harry went through as many informational databases as possible looking for any indications of what may have happened to the Wizarding world. Peter was invaluable help with this. Having grown up with this technology, the younger boy seemed to be able to coax the databases to give up most insignificant data imaginable. They were able to find several references to odd events that could be attributed to Wizards, if looked at in the proper way, but those seemed to taper off after the first contact with the Vulcans had occurred. Based on what could be found, there wasn't anything that resembled Wizarding activity being recorded in the past one hundred years or so. 

This left Harry wondering about the reasons for that silence, both with regards to his own attempts to attract attention and in the world at large. Magical society, in Britain at least, had been around for millennia when he was born; could that have changed in the less than three centuries he'd missed out on? Or were the Wizards out there, still hiding from the Muggle world, but detecting his displays and registering him as actually well over two hundred and eighty years old? It was also possible that there were simply no underage magic rules in North America. Or it could be that the Wizarding world packed up and left Earth as soon as they could, leaving the Muggle world behind. 

All in all, the whole situation bothered him. There was one other option, one that Harry all but refused to contemplate; maybe Moldyshorts had won and had destroyed the Wizarding world in the process, leaving Harry the last Wizard on Earth.

 

As August wound down, Winona made sure that both Peter and Harry were ready for the beginning of school on the twenty-sixth. They had been registered at the combination middle and high school and had all their supplies. In town, Harry had wanted to find an old fashioned quill and inkpot, if for nothing else to remind him of his friends and time at Hogwarts. He settled for an antique fountain pen that was unique enough to have been something that Dumbledore might have used. 

On the twenty-sixth, Harry went to his first class of the day, homeroom. Highland had set up the students' class schedules so that the first week of school they had a homeroom period of around 30 minutes or so, then their regular classes. After that first week they only had a single homeroom period once a week. It was during this class that Harry's nickname of 'Gramps' came back and stuck with him through the rest of high school. 

Al Groschider had been a teacher at Highland High School for almost thirty years. He'd seen all sorts of pranks played by students, and generally enjoyed them. However, during the first week of school he didn't put up with them, as it was time to get back into the swing of things, not play around. 

Harry knocked on the doorframe to Mr. Groschiders classroom. He'd been delayed at the office as they had some issues with his records and schedule that took a few extra minutes to clear up. 

"Oh hello, come in," greeted Mr. Groshider. He had heard that he was getting a new student today. Transfers in and out of this small-town school were fairly rare, and were usually due to parents moving out of town for a few years then coming back.

"Umm…sorry bout that. I didn't mean to be late. I was held up in the office for a few minutes," Harry explained, his English accent more pronounced that normal. 

Several of the young ladies in the class giggled at his accent. Not in a cruel manner, as if to make fun of him, but more in a way that implied they thought that it was cute and made him something of a mystery. 

"That's okay, have a seat over there… Mr. Potter." He waived to an empty desk by the ladies that were giggling over Harry's accent. 

Harry sat down at the desk, a small smile gracing his features. He knew that what was about to happen was the kind of prank that the Weasley twins would have loved. A prank by telling the truth. 

Mr. Grosheider began to review the paperwork that covered Harry's basics in the school. 

"Harry James Potter…Guardian is Winona Kirk…Birthdate, July 31, 1980… Tested out of English…Taking stand….Wait a second, 1980!?!?" exclaimed Mr. Grosheider. 

"Mr. Potter, this is a joke, Right?" 

"No sir, that's my birthday," said Harry seriously. 

"Somebody put you up to this, there’s no way you could be almost three hundred years old. I'm going to call the office and get this straightened out." He firmly believed that he was being set up. 

Mr. Grosheider called the office and while the class couldn't hear the conversation it was obvious that Harry had been telling the truth. Mr. Grosheider's face got paler and paler by the minute. He was still on the com with the office when the bell rang to send the students to class. One of the girls that had been sitting by him broke out laughing at the look on the homeroom teacher's face after they had gone out of the room. 

"Hey, Gramps, that was beautiful. You're going to be fun to be around," said Kim Mertins as she walked next to Harry. 

"Yep, that it was," responded Harry. He decided that high school looked like it was going to be fun. No Dudley. No Draco. No Snape. No Boy-Who-Lived expectations. 

Just Harry.

 

"Peter you know I'm going to do this. I need to know what happened. I mean I know what the history disks say and I know what happened to Hermione, but what about everyone else? It's a big blank spot that I need to try to fill. If there are any records, England is where I am going to find them." The frustration of not knowing what happened after his jaunt through time was clearly evident in Harry's voice.

"I know Har, but I just want to go with you. It sounds like fun to me," Peter pleaded. 

"Pete, it wouldn't be fun for you if you came along. Hell, it's not going to be fun for me. I'll be spending the whole trip in the library in London, going over records, with my nose in a stack of books taller than the tree out back. I'm not planning on taking any sightseeing trips or running around Piccadilly Circus. Besides, I know that Nana won't let you run around London unsupervised. It's not like going into town for groceries. London can be dangerous. Alright?" Harry explained to the younger boy. 

Harry knew this to be a bit of a lie. While yes he was going to be in the London Central Library for a good piece of this first trip to England, trying to find Diagon Alley, St. Mungos, or even the Ministry of Magic was something he didn't want anyone else to find out about. 

"Once I've gotten answers, or no answers but things make a bit more sense to me, I'll bring you and Nana both along to show you around the area and give you the grand tour of what old London was like," Harry promised. 

"Well, okay. But Harry, have you talked with Nana about going yet? She'd have you cleaning the barn out with a toothbrush if you didn't ask about going first. She worries enough about Uncle Jim as it is with him hopping galaxies like grandpa did. 'Sides, she's not going to let you go till your homework is caught up. You did get it done, didn't you?" Peter stared at Harry, one eyebrow going up towards his hairline. 

Harry turned fully and looked at Peter. He wondered if Mr. Spock had taught him that look. He'd seen it often enough in the Enterprise sickbay when Dr. McCoy said something to Spock that seemed totally illogical on the surface, but on deeper inspection was ruthlessly logical. 

"Well, not yet. I was going to talk with her about it this afternoon. Your grandmother can be a bit intimidating at times, you know? With fall break coming up in a couple of weeks I was kinda hoping to ease her into the idea of letting me go." Harry explained while turning back to his homework. He wasn't kidding about Winona Kirk being a bit intimidating at times. She reminded him of Molly Weasley: loving and caring for her children, but when they got out of line, the saber-toothed tiger showed up.

Peter, being the more studious of the two teens, just shook his head at his foster brother's procrastination. He was quite a bit like Hermione, in academics at least, but he did know how to relax and at times had a mischievous streak that would have put the Weasley twins to shame. "Just remember that you have to have that biology report finished before break. You've put that off long enough." 

"Yes, Mother," Harry quipped. Harry wondered if Peter was some relation to Hermione with the way he harped on getting homework done at times. 

 

Surprisingly enough, getting permission to go to London for fall break wasn't as hard as Harry had thought it would be. Winona Kirk had been expecting this since that first night, when Harry had told them his story. She insisted that he follow some rules while he was gone, but they were easy enough to obey: no drinking, call in every night, and don't get into trouble with the local authorities. However, she did have one request that surprised Harry a bit. 

"Harry, I don't mind you going in the least bit. I really did expect you to ask back during the summer. While I can't pretend to know what you have been going through, I expect I would be doing the same thing in your shoes, trying to find out what happened to my friends." She gave Harry a knowing look. Turning back to the sink to wash some more beans, she continued. "You know the rules that I laid down and I do expect them to be followed, but there is one thing that I would like you to do while you're there." 

"What's that, Nana?" Harry asked from the table. He had taken to calling Winona by the same name that Peter did. She seemed to like it and actually encouraged it at times. 

"Find out what happened to the Dursleys if you can. I know that you didn't like them and they didn't treat you well, but as much as I hate to say it, they were your last remaining family. You probably don't want to even think about them, but I'd like to know what happened to them. Maybe they got what they truly deserved, like jail time, or something. Heck, maybe they were London when the war broke out. Who knows? But dear, I would like to know, if you think you can manage it." 

The intensity in her voice killed Harry's initial urge to refuse, loudly. She really wanted to know what had become of the Dursleys, and he had a feeling that if it were possible to go back in time, she would, just to give them a piece of her mind and probably her cast iron skillet across their heads for good measure. 

Harry looked at the notes he had received earlier from the farm hands for a minute, thinking about it. Finally, he responded, "Okay, I'll try and look up the Dursleys as well. IF, and I do mean if, they did somehow manage to continue on and their family is still around. I'll find out all I can. But I am not contacting them if I can at all help it." 

Winona had never gotten the full story on how the Dursleys had treated Harry, but the disgust was evident. She wondered if Harry had been abused by them, more than just the vague allusions Harry had made to his poor treatment. If so, she hoped that karma had caught up with them and they had paid for their actions. 

"That's all I can ask for Harry. Just remember, you have a home here and no matter what, you'll always be welcome."

 

Harry's trip to London wasn't too bad. Nana took him to Davenport, where he hopped a shuttle to Chicago. After a two hour wait, he took a public transporter to London. The moment he materialized on his home soil, he began to feel… well, odd for lack of a better term. He didn't really feel sick or anything. It was just a general feeling of uneasiness, and a desire to get his business completed and get out of England, more than anything else. At first, Harry wrote the feeling off to his nervousness.

After checking into his hotel for the week, Harry went out and got a map of modern London. He went to the London central library and began looking in the map room. He specifically went to the maps of London that were from his time. By matching up coordinates, Harry attempted to mark on the tourist map the locations where he believed the Leaky Cauldron, St. Mungo's, and the Ministry of Magic had been. He also marked down the location of Kings Cross station, as it had been rebuilt in the same location. He should be able to find platform nine and three-quarters with no problems. This project took him several hours to compile and double-check his research. When he was finished, it was dinner time so he grabbed some Chinese take-away and went back to his room for the night. 

Early the next morning, Harry set off for Kings Cross. He felt that, of all the places that he was going to investigate, this one would be the easiest to find. Getting to the station was easy enough but that's when his first clue that something had gone drastically wrong with the wizarding world reared its head. Platform nine and three-quarters no longer existed. He'd been looking around the station when one of the Bobbies had spoken with him about what he was doing. Harry explained to the officer that he was working on a school project about the station and had heard rumors about a hidden set of tracks. 

The Bobbie chuckled at that and took Harry to see a member of station management. The manager had been pleased with Harry's inquisitiveness and had taken him to a section of the station that had been converted to a small museum. While it was currently closed for renovation, the manager took Harry in anyway. He explained that the Hidden Track was no rumor, but had been real. When the nuclear blasts had gone off over London, the station had been heavily damaged, as well as seriously contaminated by fallout. 

As he spoke, he led Harry to a large display window. The track, he explained, had actually been about thirty feet or so under the platform, between the old tracks nine and ten. The remains of what was found on that track were on display behind the window. The manager opened up an electrical box and turned on the display lights. 

Inside the display were the partially crushed remains of the Hogwarts express. The man informed Harry that the ceiling had collapsed in this part of the old station, and while it hadn't killed anyone, the locomotive and carriages that were parked on this track were still highly radioactive after two hundred years. Harry thanked the manager and quietly left the station, shocked that the Express was gone, and on display in a Muggle museum.

 

After leaving Kings Cross station, Harry wandered towards Parliament, more in a daze than through any conscious direction. By the time he had shaken himself out of his funk, he realized that he was in the general vicinity of where he believed the entrance of the Ministry of Magic had been. 

Harry began to look around the area in the hopes of finding an entrance, but wasn't really expecting to find one. He realized that his chances of finding an entrance were very slim as most of London had been rebuilt in the past two hundred and fifty years. Even if the Ministry were still in the same place, hidden under his feet, there were no telephone boxes on the streets anymore. As he had expected, the area had been totally rebuilt and he was unable to locate anything that even hinted at the presence of a magical government facility. 

Not knowing of anything better to do at the time, he went to the central library of London to try and look up the Weasleys. 

One of the Librarians, an elderly thin man by the name of Jackson, assisted Harry looking through the databases. He found several mentions of what he believed were Weasley descendents, mostly in transport manifests for colonies. Harry was happy that it appeared that some of the Weasleys had managed to survive and were still going strong, but he wondered if these were witches and wizards, or if they were squibs. 

The next day, Harry decided to try and find out if St. Mungo's had managed to survive, and if not, try to find Diagon Alley. Harry figured that if something from the Wizarding world had survived, it would be there. After all, Olivander's had been in business since well before Hogwarts had been built and located in the same area for over two thousand years. He hoped he could find something in one of these areas. 

With St. Mungo's, he had no luck. The area that he had identified as the location had been completely rebuilt. Instead of an abandoned building, he found a bustling office complex of modern design. Disappointed, Harry decided to not lose hope and headed to where he believed Diagon Alley should still be. 

When he arrived where he thought the alley should be, there was no street of tightly-packed buildings concealing the area from view, and no pubs with magical-sounding names hiding the entrance. Instead, he found a large, grassy park. The entrance had an iron archway with the name 'Remembrance Park'. 

Harry walked through the park, stunned that there was no indication of the former Wizarding occupants of the site. At the far end of the park Harry approached a set of large white marble boulders. Based on his memories, this was the area where Gringotts should have been. Attached to the largest boulder was a large bronze engraving with the inscription:

****

Gringotts Stones

Dedicated to all those who perished in the nuclear attack of August 1, 2060

"Constant Vigilance is the Price of Freedom"

Beneath the inscription was a stylized Phoenix rising from a pool of fire.

Luckily no one else was in the park at the time, as Harry, in a fit of rage, sadness and frustration, drew his wand conjured up a target and let loose with the strongest Reducto spell he could. The target disintegrated, leaving almost no trace of its existence. 

No sooner than Harry had created the target he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and had the feeling he was being watched. The uneasy feeling he had been experiencing since his arrival in England grew dramatically, to the point that he had the urge to get out of England as soon as humanly possible. 

Harry sat down at the base of one of the boulders, looking around as if trying to spot the danger his senses were warning him about. The feeling began to diminish after a few minutes, and he wondered if this was some sort of new warning system from the Ministry. He decided to wait around to see if he received a notice from the Ministry or if an Auror showed up to check out what was going on. After about a half hour or so of waiting, he didn't receive any indications that anything was going to happen. The only thing that he did notice was that the desire to leave was still there but had dropped in intensity to almost what it had been when he first arrived in England. The feeling of being watched was still there as well, but it was very faint. It was similar to the feelings one would get at a store where there had been a lot of robberies. 

Harry looked closely at the marker one last time before leaving the park. He noticed two things about it. The first thing was the quote. It was incorrect. He had read that quote when getting caught up on his education on the Enterprise. The quote he had read started with _Eternal_ not _Constant._ The other thing he spotted was a small engraving in one corner of the marker stating that the marker had been presented on July 31, 2070 by the Order of the Phoenix. 

Despite his fit of anger earlier, Harry left the park with a lighter heart. The Order had survived until the 2070's, and the misquote on the marker meant that someone who had known or had been trained by 'Mad Eye' Moody had been around to put that marker in place. 

The remainder of Harry's time in London was spent in the central library. He had decided not to go up to Hogwarts on this trip, as he wanted to have as much time to explore as possible and he only had a week in England on this trip. As he had general idea of what had happened to the Weasleys, Harry decided to try looking up the others that had been in the Department of Mysteries with him. In addition to the picture of Hermione that Lt. McGivers had shown him on the Enterprise, he found records indicating that her doctorate had been in Psychiatry, and there was a license to practice in Australia and the States from the early Twenty First century, but that was all. He didn't find anything on Neville or Luna, but since they were Purebloods, he hadn't expected to find anything in Muggle records unless their descendents had decided to leave Earth like some of the Weasleys had apparently done. 

The day before he was supposed to leave England, Harry finally gritted his teeth and set out to look up the Dursleys, as his guardian had asked him to. He found the death certificates and obituaries for Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. Apparently Vernon had passed away in the early twenty-first century of a heart attack, and Petunia had outlasted Vernon by about twenty years before a stroke had taken her. 

Dudley, on the other hand had apparently had a decent enough career as a boxer, but had really made a name for himself as a trainer. There were even some books on the subject that he had written, which had left Harry sniggering when he saw them. He hadn't thought Dudley could write well enough to create something that others would want to read without a gun or wand against their heads. 

Surprisingly enough, Dudley had married and had a fairly large family. Tracing those relations down had taken time to do, but he found some descendents were still around in the twenty third century. The most shocking discovery had been that the old librarian, who had been so helpful and kind when Harry had been researching what had happened to the Weasleys, was actually Jackson Dursley, a direct descendent of Dudley. 

Despite Harry's declaration to Winona, he decided to talk to Jackson and see how things went. 

Harry walked up to the desk where the old man was working on some paperwork and cleared his throat to get his attention. 

"Yes, how may I... Oh! Hello, Harry. How are you doing this fine afternoon?" asked Jackson cheerfully. 

"Not too bad, sir, but I have some questions about some things that I found and I wondered if you could help me out." He was nervous about how Jackson was going to react when he showed him what he had found. 

"Certainly, my boy. Show me what you've dug up and I'll try to clarify things." 

Harry took Jackson to the alcove that he had been working in and showed him the Genealogy items that he had arranged on the desk.

"All very interesting, but why are you showing me my family history? And another thing, why do you have Lily Evans, James Potter and Harry Potter circled on your worksheet. Is there something about them that I am missing?" asked Jackson in a curious voice. 

Harry took a deep breath before speaking. "Yes sir, there is. While Lily and James are dead, I'm not. I'm Harry Potter. Please sir, let me explain myself before you make any judgments."

"Please do, I'm extremely curious as to your claim to be Harry, and if that is true, how you're still a teenager," said a skeptical yet inquisitive Jackson. 

Harry had decided to use the cover story that Starfleet had come up with to protect the secret of the Guardian. He explained that as an orphan he had been selected to be part of one of the first sleeper ship colonization efforts by the UN. Since it was all a secret project, the participants were listed as deceased or were listed in records as runaways if they were under the age of 18. The ship he had been on was named the _S.S. Winston Churchill_ and had been only recently found. The Enterprise had found it drastically off course and many hundreds of light years from its destination. From what could be determined, the ship had been struck by and asteroid during its flight and Harry's hibernation pod was the only one still functioning after two hundred and fifty years. 

Jackson sat back in his chair and smiled. "Harry, I had always wondered what happened to that branch of the family and now I know. I am so glad I got to meet you…nephew." 

Harry smiled back. He now knew that he had relatives here in the twenty-third century, and at least one accepted him. 

Harry and Jackson spent the remainder of the afternoon and a large part of the evening talking and getting to know one another. Harry wished that he had more time on this trip to reconnect with the first decent relative he'd ever met, but he was leaving first thing in the morning. 

The next morning Jackson showed up at Harry's hotel room. He insisted on taking Harry to breakfast and then to the transporter terminal. 

While waiting for Harry's turn to leave, Jackson let him in on a bit of family lore that made Harry glad that he had gotten to reconnect with Jackson. 

"Harry, I took a look through some of the old family scrapbooks last night. I thought you might want to know why I believe that Dudley got out of boxing and into training," Jackson said. 

"Oh? Why was that?" a curious Harry asked. 

"Dudley's last fight almost killed him. He was in hospital for several weeks in a coma. Later on, he said he would have gotten back into the ring again, except for one thing. He claimed that his youngest daughter and his cousin Harry came to visit him while he was in that coma. Dudley swore till the day he died that Annie said she was giving up what made her special to save her daddy, and that Harry appealed to him to not be like Vernon and use his 'hard head' to help others. The problem with this was that Annie was only about fifteen months old and…well, you were already in hibernation."

Harry sat back and pondered this. _Was Annie a witch that somehow gave up her powers to save Dudley? I wonder._

"I'm glad you told me that. I have no idea if my spirit, soul or whatever was able to talk to Dudley, or if his unconscious mind just dreamed me up. I'm just glad that he thought enough of me to believe that I helped him become a better man than he seemed destined to be when we were children."

Just then the speakers in the terminal announced that the window for people to transport to Chicago was opening and all those going to Chicago should get into the proper queues. 

Harry hugged Jackson and said with a smile "I'll make sure to keep in touch, Uncle Jack." 

"You do that Harry. Have a good trip back." 

With that Harry stepped into the area for his transport back to the States and his home.


	6. School Daze

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 6: School Daze

After Harry returned to Iowa, he sat down to tell Winona and Peter all about his trip. He told them about the records he had found of Weasley descendants boarding ships bound for new colony worlds, and about Remembrance Park and the memorial plaque placed by the Order of the Phoenix. 

He also told them about Jackson Dursley, the old librarian who was his cousin Dudley's five-times great-grandson. 

Winona was ecstatic, and not a little smug, to hear that Harry had managed to make friendly contact with a family member. She insisted on contacting the old man, and after several enjoyable conversations, she invited him to the Kirk farm for Christmas. 

Unfortunately, it was not to be. 

Jackson passed away peacefully in his sleep early in November of 2267, at the age of 94. At the invitation of Jackson's eldest granddaughter, to whom Jackson had related stories of meeting their long-lost relative, Harry, Winona and Peter went to England to attend the funeral. They got to meet several of Harry's other relatives there. They accepted Harry as a cousin, of sorts, and made it a point to keep in touch. 

Apparently, in the intervening two hundred and fifty years plus years since Harry had been in the twentieth century, the Dursley clan had changed from a collection of overweight, bigoted bullies into a true family, who accepted each other regardless of who they were or where they were from. It warmed Harry's heart to know that somehow Dudley had changed and had, in Harry's eyes, redeemed himself. 

During his correspondence with the Dursleys, he discovered that none of Jack's living descendants resided in England anymore. Jackson and his two children had been the last ones to live their lives there. Jackson's only sister, along with one of their first cousins, were also known to have moved abroad several decades before, marrying and raising their families outside of England. In each case, the grandchildren attributed their decision to emigrate to a general dissatisfaction with the nation of their birth and a desire to find somewhere better, somewhere "more comfortable", to live.

Harry remembered his own reaction to arriving in England the first time; the strong sense of uneasiness and the desire to leave as soon as possible. As soon as he had left England at the end of his first trip, those feelings had faded. They returned, just as strong as before, the moment he materialized in London again for Jackson's funeral. He discussed this phenomenon with the Dursleys, and they each reported that they felt a similar discomfort, but in the end they chalked it up to the general emotional distress inherent in a funeral of a family member. Harry, on the other hand, felt the coincidence was suspicious.

HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOS

Harry's poor humor after losing Jackson, plus still having more questions than answers about the wizarding world, was noticed by his friends not long after he returned to school. In particular, Harry's first friend at Highland High, Kim, was concerned about him and decided that she was going to do something about it. 

Harry was in the school library working on a trigonometry problem when Kim sat down across from him. 

"Hey, Gramps, what's up?" she asked. 

"Oh, hi Kim. Just doing a spot of homework. You know how Mr. Stotts can be," replied Harry. His voice was flat, almost emotionless. 

Kim reached out and took the fountain pen from Harry's fingers, interrupting the work he was doing.

"That's not what I meant. Harry, what's wrong? You've been down since fall break." The concern in her voice was echoed in her expression. 

Harry looked straight into her eyes. "It's nothing, Kim. I'm just feeling…I don't know. It's silly." He looked back at his homework, but didn't make the effort to retrieve the pen. 

"Harry, after Biology is done, I'm driving you home and we're going to talk. Please let me help ok?" As she said this she clasped his hand gently. 

Harry looked at her hand holding his but did nothing to remove it and just nodded. 

They sat there in the library for the rest of the class period, holding hands. Just before the bell rang to send them to the final class of the day, Biology, Kim let go of his hand and helped him gather up he books and papers. As they walked out of the library, she took hold of his hand again and they walked to class with their hands joined. 

No one said anything about the two of them walking hand in hand to their last class, but several of the kids and teachers that they passed in the hallways did notice that something had changed between Harry and Kim. 

Harry just enjoyed the feeling of her warm hand in his as they walked to class. He knew that when they got back to the farm, she wasn't going to drop the subject of what was bothering him until he let it out. 

When class ended, the two of them walked to Kim's car. She was kind enough to offer Peter a lift back to the farm, too, which the younger boy gladly accepted. The conversation was light and consisted mostly of what everyone's plans were for the weekend, as this was Friday afternoon. Kim had to work at the grocery store where she was a cashier, while Harry and Peter had work to do on some of the autofeeding equipment in the livestock barn. 

Peter knew something was up between the two older teens; once they arrived at the Kirk farm, he hopped out and told them he would let Nana know that they were going to be in Harry's workshop. 

Kim was amazed at the work that Harry had done on the antique Corvette. It had been completely disassembled and the drivetrain was back in the frame. The bodywork had been hammered out and was ready to be reattached to the car when the time came. 

Kim moved some of the tools out of the way on the workbench and hopped up on it. 

"Harry, please sit down and tell me what's been bothering you. I want to help if I can."

Harry sat down heavily on one of the workbench chairs. "Kim, you know when I'm from and how I got to be here. Most of that's no secret. Parts of it are secret and I can't say anything about those pieces; I swore an oath on it and there is no way I'm going to break it. I'll try and tell you everything I can but…" Harry just looked at the floor, not wanting to meet her gaze. 

As much as Harry might have wanted to let her in on the wizarding world, he still didn't know if the Statute of Secrecy was in place or not. In addition, he'd made a promise to Starfleet that he would never let his knowledge of the Guardian's planet out without their permission. If the wrong people found out about it, the consequences could be unthinkable. 

"That's okay, Harry. I'm not going to push on those parts. But I want to know what happened during break and why you're so down." She reached out and lifted Harry's chin so she could look him in the eyes. 

Slowly Kim coaxed the story out of Harry. A year ago, he had woken up in an unfamiliar place, found out what year it was, and learned that there was no way to send him back to his time despite all the Federation's high tech equipment. He'd learned that almost everything and everyone he'd ever known had been destroyed in a senseless war just a few decades later. He didn't know what happened to his friends from the twentieth century, not even whether they had survived. The final straw had been finding Jackson Dursley, a relative (even if a distant one), a connection to that distant past, only to lose him again too soon when he passed away. 

As they talked, the two teens had moved out of the workshop, and had been walking around the farmyard. By the time that Harry reached the end of his story, his voice was cracking with emotion and Kim was holding Harry close. 

She guided Harry over to the ancient oak tree behind the house and they sat down still holding each other. Harry, having finally voiced his fears and insecurities, leaned into Kim's shoulder and occasionally shuddered with small sobs for all he had lost, though there were no tears. 

It was getting pretty cold out when they realized how late it was. They headed into the house, Kim muttering, "My parents are so going to kill me," under her breath the whole way.

Winona had set out hot chocolate for the two teens; Peter was nowhere to be seen. 

"Kim, I called your parents and let them know you were here. I told them I'd let them know when you leave. You probably should get home soon though, weather report says it's gonna snow tonight," said Winona. She moved out of the kitchen, a wistful look gracing her features, leaving the two teens alone. 

After a few minutes of just sitting at the table and looking at each other, Kim got up and moved to the sink. She put the mug down then turned to Harry. "I need to get home now. Will you come by the store when I get off work?" she asked shyly. 

Harry blushed lightly "Yeah, sure. Do you want to go to the cinema tomorrow night?"

Kim came over to Harry as he stood. The two of them looked into each others eyes, dark brown meeting emerald green. Without any hesitation, they gently kissed each other for the first time. 

Unlike first kisses in books and movies, which were described with exploding passions and longings without end, this was far gentler. As the kiss broke, they felt simple contentment with each other, and they both knew that they satisfied a need that neither had known that they had. 

"I'll take that as a yes?" said Harry, the happiness in his voice evident. 

Kim burst out laughing at that quip. After a moment she settled down with a huge grin on her face. "Of course, silly, I can't wait. I've got to get home. I'll see you tomorrow."  
She kissed Harry one more time and left the kitchen to go home.

Harry watched her leave all the while thinking _WOW! That's not Cho. No way! What a kiss. Merlin, I really fancy Kim. I am not going to screw this up._

Harry walked into the living room where Winona was sitting, his smile brighter and wider than she had ever seen it before. 

Winona just looked up at Harry from her seat on the couch. "So you and Kim are an item now? Just don't hurt her, Harry. I'll go call her parents to let them know she's on her way home. You get up to bed now."

Harry headed up the stairs to his room, the smile still on his face. Just as he was sitting down on the bed, Peter stuck his head into the room and started to sing “Harry and Kimmy, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" 

Harry grabbed a pillow and flung it at Peter's capering form. "Oh, shut it, you!" 

Peter easily dodged the pillow and laughed on the way back to his room. 

Harry lay back on his bed. Life was good. 

 

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By Monday, the news was all around the school. While Harry and Kim hadn't said anything about becoming a couple, everyone knew it and her girlfriends dragged her off during lunch to get all the details. In the meantime, Harry's male friends were congratulating him and saying it was about time. 

One of the football players, Steve, took offense at the idea of a pretty girl like Kim getting together with the new kid when she wouldn't give him the time of day, and decided to take out his frustrations on Harry. He stormed over to the table where Harry and his friends were joking around and grabbed Harry by the shoulder, spinning him around. 

"Bloody Hell! What's this!" Harry exclaimed, shrugging off the boy's hand and standing up. 

Harry's friend Tom, a frightfully smart boy with a rapier sharp wit and taste for twentieth century rock music and films, looked at Steve before responding. "Hmmm… overdeveloped musculature suitable for hunter gatherer societies, low occipital brow ridge, small braincase for body mass, I'd say Neanderthal man, Gramps."

The lunchroom, which had gone quiet when Steve grabbed Harry, burst out in laughter at Tom's crack. 

The laughter enraged Steve who yelled out, "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER! KIM'S MINE" With this, he swung a meaty fist at Harry. 

What no one aside from Peter knew was that Harry had been studying the Klingon manual that had been with his Bat'le'th. Harry had taken to it like a duck to water and had quickly gotten fairly proficient at the hand-to-hand parts of the training outlined in the book. He had also discovered that many of the motions described were similar to Shaolin style martial arts and had gotten several books on that as well. 

Harry ducked under the punch and let loose with a palm strike to the bigger boy's ribs. Unbeknownst to everyone, including himself, Harry had managed to channel some of his magic into the strike as well. The end result was that Steve hit the ground like he was pole-axed, with three broken ribs. 

Harry stalked over to the downed boy his eyes seemed to be backlit with barely restrained fury. "P'TAH! Kimberly Mertins is not a piece of meat that you can barter baubles over! She is a human being that is a wonderful person and not A PIECE OF PROPERTY!"

Harry stormed off to one of the tables and sat down, trying to regain control of himself. 

The school principal, Mr. Sharpe, and Kim had seen Steve start the fight and Harry end it, and both came over to talk to Harry. 

"Harry, sweetie, are you ok?" asked Kim with a concerned voice. 

Mr. Sharpe gently touched Harry on the shoulder. "Mr. Potter, come to the office with me? Don't worry, I saw what happened and you're not in trouble. Miss Mertins, would you gather up Mr. Potter's possessions and come to the office as well?"

After spending time in his office helping Harry calm down, Mr. Sharpe informed the two that Steve was going to be suspended for a week and removed from the football team for the remainder of the year as punishment for his behavior. He also let the two of them leave school early and had Kim take Harry home. 

By the end of the school day, it was an established fact: Harry and Kim were together. If you didn't want your life to become a living hell administered by every girl in school, you learned not to mess with Harry, and if you valued your life you did not do anything to hurt Kim, as you might not live to regret it. 

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Winter passed and spring came. As much as Harry might have wanted to go to Scotland during spring break, it was planting time and he stayed at the farm helping out. Kim spent her time there at the Kirk farm, helping Winona around the house and preparing drinks and snacks for the farm hands and the boys when she wasn't working or at home. 

Harry and Kim's grades didn't suffer despite all the time that they spent together. If anything, they seemed to improve over time. By the end of the year, while neither could claim to be the top of their class, there were very high in class standing. Both had after-school activities that they went to; Harry had enrolled in martial arts classes at the local rec center, while Kim had arranged to take piano lessons while he was in class. 

Winona had decided that when school got out in late May, it would be a good time to take a week's vacation. She wanted to help Harry with his quest for answers to the mystery of the wizarding world. To that end, she suggested that they try to see if they could get to Hogwarts and find out what happened there. 

Kim was a little put out by the Kirk family going to Scotland, but once she learned that her parents were taking the family to Yellowstone at the same time, it wasn't all that bad. At first, Kim had wanted Harry to go with her family and meet her older brother who owned and operated his own star freighter. But after discussing it with Harry, she understood that this was a bit of family bonding time and they were going to try and find the remains of his old boarding school so he could put his past to rest. Harry promised that if he went back there again, he would bring her and show her around the ruins.

The moment Harry and the Kirks materialized in the London transporter station, Harry was once again hit with the same uneasy feeling and desire to get his business completed that he'd felt on both previous visits. He thought to himself, _Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times it's on purpose._

After they had moved away from the platform and into a restaurant to wait for the transport window to Edinburgh, Harry explained what he was feeling and how this was the third time it had occurred. He also mentioned what had happened when he actively cast a spell on his first trip. 

Winona thought about this information before responding. "Do you think that this is some sort of conscious effort to keep you away from England on the part of wizards?"

"Honestly, Nana, I doubt it. Jack's grandkids told me they felt something similar for their entire lives, and left England as soon as they could. Whenever they came to visit, they said the feeling returned. If it's a conscious effort, I'd think that whoever is doing it would concentrate on just me, not my family. Which brings up another point: Jack lived here his whole life, as did his kids. It's the grandkids that all left and only they said that they had this uncomfortable feeling while in England. They also mentioned that Jack had had a sister who moved to Australia back in the early part of the century, and some cousins who moved to Florida." 

Peter, who had been eating a plate of bangers and mash looked at Harry and Winona.   
"Maybe they were wizards, like you, Harry. Based on what you're saying it sounds like one of those wards things you told us about, but targeted at witches and wizards, not non-magical people."

Harry and Winona both looked at Peter, who had gone back to eating. 

Winona exclaimed, "Peter that's brilliant!" Harry sat back, stunned, his thoughts focusing on one thing: _Why would someone cast a ward that drives wizards away from England?_

Upon arriving in the Edinburgh transporter station, Harry immediately noticed that the uneasy feeling had gotten much stronger and he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. The desire to leave had also increased but he could ignore it with some effort. All in all Harry wondered if this was how 'Mad Eye' Moody had felt about everything. If so, it was no wonder that the man got paranoid. 

Heading north on a shuttle to Inverness, Harry didn't notice the feelings growing perceptibly stronger, but he dwelled on the question of what could be so important to require a wizard repelling ward like this.

After staying in Inverness for the evening, the trio obtained a Land Rover and drove the couple of hours it took to get to Balmore. After stopping by the local grocery store and getting several days worth of supplies, they were fueling the vehicle when they got their first hint that something might be amiss in the area around Hogwarts. 

Harry was looking at a local map of the area when one of the locals looked over his shoulder and saw where Harry had a finger tapping the paper. "Don't know why one would want to go near Loch Black, lad Can't stand ta be near th' place, m'self."

"Aye. Place is 'aunted iffen yer was ta ask me," piped up another man. "Weird goings on up there." 

Harry just looked at the two men for a second and went back out to the car without responding. He was thinking that is sounded like muggle repelling charms, but what if something else was going on up at Hogwarts?

They finally drove up an unmarked and disused track to the eastern end of the loch. According to the map that they had, there should be an overlook at the east end that should allow them to see Hogwarts, which stood on a finger of land jutting into the loch about five miles away.

They found the bottom of the overlook and parked the car. Harry climbed up the hill with Peter and Winona following behind. They felt that Harry should have the first look at his school. 

Harry reached to top of the overlook and found it to be heavily overgrown, the plants blocking the view. He decided to move through the brush and see if he could make out the school from a slightly different position. Harry had gone forward maybe ten feet when he struck a barrier and was violently thrown backwards. He hit the ground hard, feeling like someone had grabbed the very core of his being and tossed him away. He could have sworn that he heard the voice of Albus Dumbledore echoing in his ears, saying "If you value your life, be somewhere else!"

Winona and Peter heard the commotion and ran up the hill to where Harry lay, still breathing hard. 

"HARRY! Are you okay? What happened?" exclaimed Winona as she reached Harry. 

"Har, you alright?" asked Peter at the same time. 

"Bloody Hell, did anyone get the number of that lorry?" groaned Harry. He sat up and checked himself out for a minute before speaking. "Yeah, I'm okay. There's one nasty ward up there." He pointed down the path he had created through the brush. 

"Ok, I need to find the border of that ward so we don't trip it again. Don't worry Nana, I'll be very careful."

Harry stood up and looked up the rough path. He could see where the broken plants stopped and he figured that's about were the ward boundary was. 

He inched down the path with his hands out in front of him until he started feeling a tingling sensation on the palms of his hands. He stopped moving and realized that this was most likely the very edges of the ward. As he stood there, the uneasy feelings, the feeling of being watched and desire to leave began to increase drastically. He stepped away and moved back to Winona and Peter. As he did so, the intensity of the feelings dropped back down to where they had been this entire trip.

"Yeah, there's a nasty ward in place, not really harmful as far as I know, but I'm no curse breaker. If it's all the same, I'd rather not try to find out if it's more vicious the harder you try to penetrate it or not." 

The Trio set up camp at the base of the overlook and decided to work on the mystery of the wards that were in place. In the course of their musings, Peter decided to try and go through them. He was able to, but he only went in a few feet further than Harry had managed before he came running back. 

Winona scolded Peter for trying this, but it did answer the question of what type of ward it was. It obviously wasn't a Muggle repelling ward that had gone bad. Besides, the wards around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade from Harry's time had only extended out maybe two miles from the edge of the castle grounds, just enough to keep muggles away from the town and castle. This ward, and the one that seemed to be blanketing Great Britain, appeared to be targeted specifically at witches and wizards. 

This also raised the question of the Dursley grandkids. Were they witches and wizards, or squibs? If they were witches and wizards, why didn't they get any training in their abilities? If they were squibs, they shouldn't have been able to feel the odd feelings as strongly as Harry did. From what Harry understood of squibs, they did have a magical core, but it was not strong enough to actually give them the ability to perform magic. Their cores were only strong enough to allow for a longer life and the use of some potions and artifacts, but that was about it. Even then, the core strength varied from squib to squib, in the same way it did for wizards and witches. The warning ward (as he had taken to calling it) should not have affected them or if it did, nowhere near the strength of reaction that was described.

Peter added that as soon as he crossed the ward boundary, the air seemed colder, damper and he could almost feel the menace in the air. The whole experience seemed…evil somehow, that's why he came running back; what he felt had set him on edge.

This description threw Harry for a loop, but it matched up with the warnings the men at the fueling station had given him. Wizards, apparently, were physically prevented from entering, but Muggles were encouraged to stay away by more subtle means, so as not to arouse suspicions.

"I take it this wasn't something you were expecting to find?" Winona asked.

"Not at all. It's like they managed to trap something in there, and had to turn the wards in on themselves to keep it contained. Pete's description sounds a bit like dementors; they used to guard the wizard prison, but I remember people were worried they would join Voldemort. There were hundreds of them, so maybe they were imprisoned here so they couldn't get loose without wizards around to control them. Or maybe it was Voldemort himself, though he'd be long dead of old age by now if that were the case."

"Maybe someone summoned a demon!" Peter crowed, sounding almost eager.

Harry shook his head. "You've read too many comic books, Pete. I don't think that's something wizards can do." He paused for a moment, thinking back on his admittedly very spotty knowledge of wizarding capabilities. "Though I suppose, if it _were_ possible, Voldemort would have been the type to do it."

"So what do you want to do now, Harry? Do you want to try to find a way in, past the wards?"

Harry didn't have to think about it for long. "No, let's leave it alone. I heard something that sounded like my old headmaster's voice when the ward bounced me out. If he had something to do with this, then he probably had a good reason. Whatever is in there, it's definitely not something I could handle alone, so I don't want to take any chances on messing up and letting it out."

Harry took a deep breath, looking around the familiar Scottish countryside. "Maybe someday I'll find some answers about what happened, but for now I think I have to just set it aside and move on with my life. If I was somehow given the chance to go back to the twentieth century, back to Hogwarts...I'm not sure I'd want to take it. I'm starting to like it here.

"Let's go home, Nana."


	7. Growing up is hard to do

Chapter 7: Growing Up Is Hard To Do

"---Mr. Harry James Potter!"

As Harry stepped up onto the stage and approached the podium, he could almost feel his long-departed friends from Hogwarts watching him. Hermione would be teasing him mercilessly about taking almost three hundred years to graduate from school. 

He cleared his throat and began to speak. "Our principal, Mr. Sharpe, asked me to speak today, not because I was top of our class, or captain of a sports team, or anything of that sort, but because of what he called my 'unique historical perspective'. 

"As most of you know, when I was fifteen years old, I was an average student at a British boarding school, and the year was 1996. Since that day, just about everything has changed, but the most important of those changes had nothing to do with the nearly three centuries that passed between my fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays.

"Politics and borders and technologies may change, but it is the people you share your lives with that define the quality of those lives. Back in 1996, I was an orphan, being raised by relatives who despised my existence. I won't bore you with the details, but you can imagine how bad it must have been for a teenager to jump at the chance to climb aboard an untested space ship, risking hibernation and the hazards of interstellar travel at sublight speeds, just to get away."

While this fit with the "official" story, it wasn't exactly a lie. Had Hogwarts not existed, and had such an opportunity actually presented itself, Harry was sure he would have taken it in a heartbeat to get away from his aunt and uncle.

"Here in the twenty-third century, in Riverside, Iowa, I have found a community that welcomed me without reservation, and I have found something I never had before: a family. Winona Kirk took a lost and lonely boy into her home, when she already had her hands full raising her grandson. She has been more of a mother to me than anyone since Lily Potter died in 1981. And for that, she has my eternal gratitude."

Harry looked into the stands of proud parents observing the ceremonies. He found Winona and Peter smiling broadly at him. Winona had tears of joy running down her face, leaving tracks in her makeup. Another one of "her" boys had just graduated high school. 

 

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Harry staggered up the drive towards the farmhouse. The day, which had started with such celebration as he both graduated from high school and received the letter he had been hoping for, had lost all of its luster. 

Kim had broken up with him. When he told her about the letter, about his acceptance to Starfleet Academy, Kim had been very quiet. Harry hadn't noticed at first, being so caught up in his excitement and anticipation. This meant that he would be leaving for school in July, and not going to the University of Iowa in the fall with Kim. By the time Harry had finally slowed down enough to realize something was wrong, his girlfriend had already made up her mind.

It all came down to incompatible dreams. Kim wanted to stay close to home, have a quiet life, marry and have a family. Harry wanted to see the universe that now lay open before him. They both knew that if he stayed in Iowa, it would slowly kill him. Kim knew herself well enough to know that going with Harry would kill her as the stress would eat her alive. And if they tried to stay together, with her in Iowa and him gallivanting across the galaxy, as Winona Kirk had done when her husband had been alive, she didn't think that she could stand the stress of being apart. In the end, two stubborn people who couldn't help but love each other, split apart because they couldn't reconcile their very natures. 

The last sight that Harry had of her was of her face behind the drivers' window of her car with tears pouring out of her eyes, sobbing like her heart had been cut out. 

Harry wandered around the farm in a daze, not really seeing where he was walking, just moving on autopilot. Eventually he found himself in his workshop under the equipment barn. He barely glanced at the magic practice range and moved to the Corvette. It had been lovingly restored and was once again a gleaming candy apple red, with black leather interior. He remembered when Kim had suggested the red and black color scheme, back in junior year when he began work on the interior and rag-top. Running his hand gently down the side of the car, Harry remembered all the good times and bad that they had shared over the past two years. 

Had anyone been watching, they would have seen tears running down Harry's face for the first time since he was a toddler, in remembrance of the first real love of his life. 

Harry drifted over to the workbench, still in shock over what had happened. His hand stopped when it touched the open case of the bat'le'th. The razor sharp blade gleamed in the lights of the shop. The blade had a slight discoloration on one of the tips of the inner cutting edge, a legacy of a time some months before when he had been sharpening it and Kim had accidentally cut her fingertip on the point while testing the edge. For some reason, the small area where her blood had been never had the same coloration as the rest of the blade ever again.

As Harry's hand drifted over the oiled handgrips, he came to a realization. As depressed as he was, working with the blade always seemed to center him and make him calm. He knew he was in emotional turmoil and needed the calm so he could grieve properly for his relationship without being self destructive. 

Harry took the blade with him outside and set up his practice area. He set up several large hay bales as targets for sword strikes and hand to hand attacks. Harry took off his shirt and sat down on his knees with the sword on the ground in front of him and began meditating trying to focus himself before he began to move. 

 

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Back in town, Kim was inconsolable. Her mother tried to get her to cheer up, reminding Kim that her father had been much like Harry. After four years with the fleet, he had come to the realization that home is where the heart is, and his heart was in Iowa. This didn't do any good in cheering the distraught young woman up. 

After a while, Kim's mother suggested going into the backyard and getting some sun. It was a nice day out and maybe being outside would help. This is where Kim's friend Dee found her, sitting on the bench that Harry had built, under the old willow tree.

Kim told Dee the entire story of the breakup and how she couldn't go with Harry on his journey to see the universe or keep him here without destroying what made Harry, Harry. 

By the time she was finished, Dee had decided that what Kim needed was lots of girlfriends over to commiserate with about what she had given up. Kim eventually agreed but didn't really want a huge fuss made of it. As Kim sat there feeling miserable for what she had done, Dee started calling all of Kim's close girlfriends. The only problem with having Dee arrange something like this was the Dee was an incurable gossip, as were several of Kim's closest friends. By the time all of the people that Dee had approached arrived at Kim's house, the news that Harry and Kim had broken up was all around town. The big problem with this was the story mutated with each retelling, like a giant game of telephone, until the facts of the breakup were replaced by a much more interesting but less truthful scenario. 

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Steve and his friends heard about the breakup and decided that it was time to get even with Harry. By the time the story had made its way to them, it seemed that it had been Harry who had initiated the breakup, ostensibly so that he could follow in his foster-uncle's footsteps and tomcat his way through all of Starfleet. This, they felt, was a betrayal of "their" poor, innocent Kim. 

Since Harry arrived in Riverside, Steve and his gang felt they had lost their places as the top dogs at school, so to speak. It never occurred to them that the only thing that Harry had done to any of them was get into one fight, one that Steve had started, and nothing else. All the imagined slights and mistreatment that they believed Harry had instigated were actually things that they had done to themselves. Talking it over amongst themselves, they decided that while, yes, Harry might be able to hit hard, he couldn't take on all five of them, right? With that, they hopped into Steve's truck and headed out to the Kirk farm to teach Harry a lesson.

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Steve's truck drove up the drive to the Kirk's livestock barn. Peter was in front of the barn, working on the brakes of one of the ATV's that were used around the farm. He didn't really pay attention to the truck pulling up, as some of the farm hands had left about a half hour earlier to get parts for one of the watering mechanisms that had been acting up and were due back shortly. The first indication that there might be a problem was when one of Steve's buddies grabbed Peter by the shoulders and picked him up off the ground, leaving his toes barely touching the dirt.

"Where's Potter?" ground out Steve, his finger jabbing Peter in the chest. 

Peter looked at the four older teens and swallowed for a second before answering. "Harry's behind the equipment barn, but I don't think…"

"If we wanted your thoughts, we'd beat them out of you. Now get lost, asshole," said Steve. The boy holding Peter let him go, and Peter went to one knee while watching them head back towards where Harry was working out his frustrations. 

Heading back into the house, Peter mumbled to himself, "I wonder if those idiots realize what sort of hornets' nest they are about to walk into?"

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Allison decided to go get a gallon of ice cream. For breakup parties like this, ice cream is a requirement, and the Mertins didn't have any. As she walked through the parking lot of the grocery store, she ran into Steve's older brother, Mike. 

"Hey Mike, what's up?" she called out in a perky voice. 

"Oh, hey Allie, not much. What you going to get?" asked Mike. He was about five years her senior and just trying to be polite. 

"Kim and Harry broke up this morning and she's all depressed about it. I'm just getting some ice cream to cheer her up," she replied. 

"Well that would explain it," said Mike in a thoughtful voice

"Explain what?"

Mike thought for a moment. "I'll bet my idiot brother and his pals thought that since Harry broke up with Kim, they would be able to catch Harry off guard and beat him up or some such nonsense. You know how they never liked Harry and always blamed him for their little schemes getting busted. Well, they're back at Mom and Dad's house, scared to death. They’re talking about swords and hay bales and crazy kids swearing in Klingon. I didn’t understand what they were on about."

"They are? Why would they think that Harry broke up with her? He didn't break up with Kim, she broke up with Harry. I got that from her, and she's hurting something awful because she still loves him," said Allison, wondering what those jokers were thinking.

"I know that Harry was taking karate classes down at the rec center. I've seen him spar a few times. The guy doesn't fool around and he's pretty strong. I wouldn't want to try and pick a fight with him. He'll win no matter what," Mike stated with certainty. He'd seen one sparring match where Harry kept getting back up when most people would have called it quits and stayed down. Eventually Harry's opponent had slipped up and Harry took him down in a split second. Harry just wouldn't quit. 

"Yeah, I knew that. I never saw him fight, though. Oh shoot, I've gotta get going. Take care, Mike." Allison waved as she hurried away, looking at her watch. 

"Ummm… okay. Bye, Allie," responded Mike. He didn't know what his little brother did, but he would find out eventually.

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Allison got back to the Mertins' home with a tub of mint chocolate chip, and asked Kim's mom serve up a bunch of large bowls for the girls that were there. She ran up the stairs to Kim's room and burst in, ready to share the news she gotten from Mike. 

"Oh my God, you won't believe it! Steve and his buds are afraid for their lives; they think Harry's gonna kill them!" she burst out as soon as she got into the room. 

"WHAT!!!" all the girls cried out. 

A teary eyed Kim looked up from the photo album that she had in her lap. It contained all sorts of photos of her and Harry together doing different things. "Not Harry, he wouldn't do anything like that. Who told you that?" 

"Steve's brother. I ran into him at the store and he told me the whole thing. He said that those morons went out to go beat up Harry and ended up running like the devil himself was after them."

Kim hiccoughed slightly, trying to hold off another breakdown. "I'll bet that they went out there and Ha…Harry was working ou…out with his bat'le'th. He does that when he's angry or frus…frustrated."

Kim turned to the back of the album and looked at the picture there. She put it down and burst in tears again and lay face down on her bed, crying, "Harry! Oh God, what have I done!"

The girls all looked at the page that was displayed. A single photo covered most of the page. The picture appeared to have been taken right after a workout. Harry was only wearing a pair of shorts and holding the bat'le'th easily at his side. A lazy grin was on his face while a sheen of sweat covered the well toned and tanned muscles of his body. 

None of them had ever seen Harry like this before. All the times any of them had seen Harry in the past, he'd been dressed for school or working around the farm. Not once did any of the girls ever have the inkling that Harry was built like this and it surprised them.

One of the girls, Sandy, sat down next to Kim, who was bawling her eyes out once again. She laid one hand on Kim's back and sadly said what every girl in the room was thinking in one form or another. "Oh, Kim."

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The past month had been miserable for both Harry and Kim. Harry had done his best to stay at the farm and had thrown himself into preparations to report to the Academy on July fifth. Kim had gone past the farm several times but just couldn't work up the courage to stop in. 

On the evening of the fourth, Harry was walking around the farm and just taking it all in. He would be leaving tomorrow morning for San Francisco and the academy. Everything was packed up and he was now just reminiscing about the life he had experienced since Winona had taken him in.

Harry stopped at the base of the old oak behind the house. He'd buried Ron here when the Tribble had died of old age; like most small creatures with high birthrates, the Tribble's natural life span was fairly short. He smiled at the memories of the little puffball cooing like mad anytime he got a sprig of mint instead of having it blended into his water. 

Harry moved on through the buildings of the farm, etching the structures into his memories. While they say that home is were the heart is, -- and Harry's heart was torn, part of it out there among the stars, and the rest with the magical world, wherever it might be -- this was his sanctuary the one place where he could take off whatever burdens he might be shouldering at the time. He wanted to remember it just like it was. 

He drifted down to his workshop. It was time to finish putting things away and cover up the 'vette. Winona had said that anytime that Harry was back, the car was his to drive. Peter had promised to take care of it while he was away, as well. Winona also said that when Jim got back to Earth and visited, he'd not be allowed to touch it, not after the last time he's driven the car and wrecked it back when he was a teenager. 

Harry was putting some of the hand tools back into the tool chest when a light cough caught his attention. He turned towards the sound and saw Kim standing there, dressed in a light summer dress, looking at him with red rimmed eyes. 

Harry walked over and started to reach out. He missed her and wanted nothing more than to hold her. As soon as he began to move, Kim was in his arms kissing him for all she was worth. 

When they broke the kiss, Harry's brain needed to reboot, the two of them had never kissed with that much intensity or need before. All Harry could respond with was "Kim, wha…?" She put a finger to his lips, quieting him. 

"Shhh. I may never see you again, but you didn't think that I'd let the man I love leave without saying goodbye?" she whispered. As she said this she reached out and pressed the button on the remote that controlled the lights in the barn, turning them off. 

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As the Kirks, Harry and Kim sat in the shuttle station in Davenport, waiting for the shuttle that was to take Harry to the Academy and hopefully to the stars, Winona sat quietly watching the two young adults finally come to grips with the reality of the whole situation. She really couldn't yell at them for their actions last night; she knew perfectly well what the two had gotten up to, but she had done the exact same thing when her Sam had left as well. She watched the two kids -- no, young adults -- make their peace with each other, knowing full well that that they probably wouldn't see each other again.

A few minutes later, a man dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet officer came up to them. 

"Harry Potter?" he asked

Harry stood up to face the officer. "Yes, sir. Is it time?"

The man nodded and moved towards the next waiting future cadet. 

The family gathered around Harry one last time. Winona hugged him and said, "I may not have given birth to you, but you're my son just as much as George and Jim ever were. Never forget that. The farm is your home, too. You're going to be busy there but I want you to write when you get a chance. I love you."

"I will Nana. I love you, too"

"Harry, I'll take care of stuff here and I want to know what it's like there. I want to know what to expect," said Peter.

Harry reached out and ruffled Peter's hair. "Okay, I will, Pete. Take care of yourself while I'm gone."

Kim just put one finger to Harry's lips, a shy smile gracing her face. "No matter what Harry, you have a piece of my heart and I will always love you. Don't forget that." 

Harry nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. 

The Starfleet officer came back over to the small group. "Time to go, Mr. Potter." 

Without another word, Harry walked through the doorway to the shuttle, headed to Starfleet Academy. To his new destiny.


	8. Cadet Potter

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 8: Cadet Potter

 

Harry looked around the bus one last time as they arrived at the gates of Starfleet Academy. There were roughly 60 cadets aboard in various states of excitement. Harry himself was excited but was thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" 

He suddenly remembered what he felt the first time he saw Hogwarts. He had the same trepidation and fears now as he'd had then, but the feelings were more refined and sedate. After all, having a madman try to kill you several times tends to dampen ones nervousness in a non lethal situation. 

As soon as the bus stopped, a Senior Cadet came aboard and yelled out, "ALL RIGHT YOU POLLYWOGS! YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO GET OFF THIS BUS AND TWENTY ARE GONE! MOVE IT!" 

In the mad scramble to get off the bus, Harry had only one thought. "Oh boy."

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After getting into a semblance of a formation and marching to a low, nondescript building, Harry found himself in a large room. In the room were several Andorians, a species that Harry had never seen before. The blue skinned aliens looked curiously at the new arrivals before going back to looking around the room taking in the various plaques and images that were on the walls. One of the officers in the room asked for everyone to find a seat. No sooner than everyone had been seated, the Cadet that herded Harry's group off the bus yelled out "AAAHHTEEENNN---HUT!"

Everyone in the room leapt to their feet as they had been instructed to by their chaperone before arriving at the Academy.

An elderly Oriental man, dressed in a command officers' uniform with gold braid that went up to his elbows, walked up to the podium at the front of the room. 

"Be seated," the admiral commanded. He looked around the room of new cadets. To Harry, it seemed that his gaze met every cadets eyes and none at the same time. Harry thought to himself, _If Dumbledore were still alive, he would have met his match with that look._

"Greeting cadets, I am Admiral Heihachiro Nogura. Commandant Weatherwax is not able to be here to greet you and asked me to step in. You are about to embark on a journey that for some will last a lifetime and for others will be far shorter. Regardless of how your journey turns out, you have taken the first steps on a path that many have taken before. Your predecessors set a high standard to meet and all of you have within you the ability to meet and exceed those standards. 

"I want you to look around at your fellow cadets. Some of you will rise to command your own ships, be it a small patrol craft or one of the new battleships that are on the drawing board now. One of you may even rise to become Starfleet Chief of Operations. Others will become the leaders of other parts of Starfleet: Security, Logistics, Sciences, Medical, Engineering, Operations. All are needed and none can be ignored. Some of your class may wash out. This is a fact of life, and as regrettable as it is, it does happen. Remember it is the choices that you make that will determine what you will become.

"On the walls around you are images or notable figures and ships from the past. Einstein of Earth, Surak of Vulcan, Alrheem of Andor. Neil Armstrong, Jonathan Archer, Garth of Izar, T'Pol, Commodores Decker and Mendez, Fleet Captain Pike.

"All of these people are ones you should look up to and try to emulate. They all have many notable accomplishments, but most importantly, when the time came, each one did the right thing. For most it wasn't the easy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do. And that is why you're here. All of you are capable of knowing right from wrong. In addition to knowledge, Starfleet Academy is here to bring to the fore in each of you the knowledge and certainty that when your time comes, you will be able to do the right thing, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. 

"I'm going to leave you now with this: You are taking your first steps into a wider galaxy. Study hard, do the right thing, and make the right choices. Someday you will be the ones that new members of the Federation will look up to as the pioneers and leaders to emulate. You are the next links in the Long Grey Line that stretches back to each of your worlds' traditions of explorers and defenders. Thank you."

"Group AAAHHTTEEENNN---HUT!" yelled out the cadet that brought them into the building. Admiral Nogura walked down the aisle. As he walked, he seemed to give various cadets a look of acknowledgement, almost as if he knew them. As he reached the row Harry was at, he looked straight into Harry's eyes and nodded before moving on. Harry thought to himself, _I've passed some sort of test, but what? I guess I'll find out eventually._

As soon as the admiral had left the room, the cadet in charge for the moment herded the incoming cadets out of the building and onto in-processing for the actual start of the next four years of their lives.

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Within seventy two hours of arrival at Starfleet Academy, Harry was wondering if his sanity had gone on a Jamaican holiday and left the rest of him behind to suffer. In those three days he'd signed his name so many times that he had to wonder if he'd be able to write again. Medical had been fun, in that his medical record were exceedingly current and test results from a lot of what he had been through had been included. Fortunately, nothing relating to the testing regarding his magical abilities was included. It was so thorough that he was pulled aside and forced to wait an hour or so as his records were confirmed with Dr. Liffereth. 

By the end of those first three days, Harry had been poked, prodded, clothed, fed, run ragged and mentally run into the ground. Every night he was so tired he just fell into bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow. Nothing in his research prior to going had prepared him for this. 

Once the in-processing phase had been completed, the real summer training, commonly known as 'Beast Barracks', began. It had been explained to the new cadets that this phase was designed to train cadets in teamwork, discipline, obedience to orders and the hundreds of small details that are part of being a member of a military organization. 

By the middle of the second week at the Academy, Harry had developed an active hatred of the word "drop." Anytime one of the senior cadets or an instructor said or yelled that word, you were supposed to do twenty pushups and then ask for permission to recover. It seemed to Harry that his squad or his platoon spent more time doing pushups than anything else. 

Other days he would have liked nothing better than to introduce some of the instructors to the business end of his wand. It was a good thing that it was safely hidden in the case for the bat'le'th. Normally cadets were forbidden to have weapons, but due to the circumstances surrounding Harry's receipt of the Klingon sword, and the political considerations regarding it, Harry had been allowed to bring it with him. The blade was safely secured in the Academy armory for the time being, with his wand hidden inside the padding in the case. 

In later years Harry would better understand that the days he was so ticked off at his instructors were the days that they were trying to prepare the cadets for times when, no matter what you did, you failed at a task. Dealing with failure, learning from failure, and recovering from failure were essential skills for any Starfleet officer.

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About halfway through the summer in beast barracks, Harry had an accident on the confidence course that made him thank God, Merlin and any other higher power that was listening that he was a wizard, not a muggle. He had just reached the top of the obstacle known as the skyscraper and was about to go over the log at the very top to land on a platform and go to the next part of the course when he lost his grip. Harry fell backwards and landed hard in the sandpit at the base of the structure twenty five feet below. 

Cadet Johansson, who had entered the Academy to become a doctor and was acting as the platoon medic during this phase of training, ran up to Harry's groaning form, opening her first aid bag on the run. 

"Don't move, Potter, let's see how badly you're hurt." She began running the medical tricorder over Harry and was surprised to find he was uninjured. Frowning, she took another scan and received the same results. By this time the duty medics had arrived and began the same checks. Johansson made sure that she had done the scans correctly and verified what she had done with the senior medic and they both agreed that Harry was unhurt. 

"Is it okay for me to get up? All that fall did was ring my bell but good. I need to finish this off," stated Harry as he began to move to complete the course. 

Lt. Sai'tek, the Andorian officer in charge of training for the day, stopped Harry before he could completely get off the ground. 

"Cadet Potter, that's the right attitude to have. You don't need to finish this. You pass. Now go over to the others that have completed their runs and relax. Cadet Johansson, good work on getting to Potter as fast as you did." 

"Yes sir, thank you sir," responded Harry and Johansson simultaneously. The two cadets moved off in different directions, Harry to where the cadets that had finished the course were at, and Johansson back to her post by the side of the tall tower. Had anyone been listening, they would have heard Johansson mumbling, "How did he manage to not get hurt? I wonder...." 

 

Several days later, Harry's company went to the Phaser range. Harry had never touched a firearm in his life, and his shooting technique was initially unlike anything in the book, but he found that his last two years of target practice with his wand in the equipment barn had an unexpected benefit. Harry just didn't miss. 

A few of the Range officers took him aside and gave Harry some tips and made corrections to his stance and grip. This only made him even more accurate. Seeing Harry's skill, they made a minor change in the qualification cycle that was perfectly within the boundaries of the regulations. By the end of the first day on the range, Harry had qualified and was acting as a peer instructor for his company. The Academy range master, a grizzled old retired Master Chief, commented on Harry's skills, comparing him to a young cadet named Chekov who had set the range scoring record roughly seven years earlier.

At the end of August, Beast Barracks completed its cycle and Harry's squad was assigned to their permanent cadet company. Harry felt proud of the squad he was a member of. Other squads had lost members during Beast Barracks, while his had jelled together almost immediately and hadn't lost a single member. Their squad leader, an Andorian named Cis'ka Rus'san, had gathered them all together and explained that even though everyone there was different, he felt they were a family for the next four years and beyond. No matter what, families stick together and help each other. And that was the secret of their success: everyone helped each other. The squads that had members wash out didn't have this dynamic and the weaker ones of those squads were left to sink or swim on their own. 

It also helped that the only cadet in their beast barracks company that was going to the Academy to be a doctor, Johansson, was part of their squad. Johansson was an attractive young woman with blonde hair and slightly Oriental features, a legacy of her Chinese mother and her mostly Scandinavian father. She had always wanted to be a doctor. Her maternal grandfather, who had raised her in San Francisco's Chinatown district from when she was a little girl, had enrolled her in every available first aid course that a teenager could take in preparation for the Academy and med school. She had made it a point that every evening she went over every squad member as best she could to ensure that they were all healthy and stayed that way. In return the squad helped her through the parts of initial training that she had trouble with. All in all the entire squad looked at Beast Barracks with a philosophy first voiced by Benjamin Franklin: "We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." 

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New cadets were not allowed to go into San Francisco unless they had earned a pass during the academic week. These rules relaxed in the cadets' second through fourth years but even then, if they did something that earned them more than 5 demerits during the week, they were restricted to campus. With the upper years, demerits generally were earned for not completing assignments on time or arguing with a professor, unless the cadet could prove the professor wrong. This occasionally happened and when it did, the cadet was automatically awarded a weekend pass. During a cadets' plebe year, demerits were earned for offences as minor as boots not polished to a mirror shine, missing a spot when shaving, or bed not made tightly enough. The whole purpose of the system was to teach cadets attention to detail in the first year, and carried over to the upper years to reinforce this.

Harry's first few weeks of actual classes were tough. He had never studied as hard as he did now, not even for his OWLs. In many of his classes, despite the excellent instructors, he felt that he was falling behind. He made appointments with each of his instructors for help and all were more than willing to assist. By mid October he felt that he was finally getting a handle on things and began to relax a bit. Harry had written when he could to both Nana and Kim, and their replies had helped ease his fears as well. Nana had regaled him with stories of Sam and Jim Kirk's exploits back in their cadet days. Kim had given him nothing but encouragement and had been sharing some of the gossip that she had been hearing in the sorority that she had pledged to. The more relaxed attitude enabled Harry to finally earn his first weekend pass the last weekend of October. 

As it turned out, one of the other first year cadets in his company that earned a pass was in his squad. San Franciscan native Johansson offered to be Harry's tour guide. Harry had laughed at the young woman's imitation of a loud travel show host when she told him, but that evening as soon as they had signed out from the company on their passes, Harry had spoken up with a jovial, "Oh great and fearless leader, what sights will you expose this humble tourist to?"

Johansson smacked Harry on his shoulder and smirked at his turn of phrase. "Come on, Potter. I know a great little Mexican place by the cable car barns. It has some of the best Mexican food outside of Mexico itself." 

"Okay, sounds good to me," replied Harry as they hailed a taxi to take them to the restaurant.

Harry found the food at 'El Toreador' extremely good though he would be the first to admit that his British/Midwestern palate wasn't prepared for the spicy nature of the food.   
Johansson had played a bit of a joke on Harry. She had ordered an appetizer of fried jalapeño peppers and encouraged him to give them a try. What she neglected to tell him was that, having grown up in Chinatown, she was quite accustomed to very spicy food and a Jalapeño was nothing to her taste buds. Harry, on the other hand, had never had the vegetable before. Having finished off high school in the Midwest, he had grown used to the thought that if it's fried, it's tasty, so he took a big bite out of it. 

The expression that crossed Harry's face when the spiciness hit had caused Johansson to burst out laughing. Once she had calmed down, Harry's admitted that they were very good, and thought _She's got the pranking abilities of the twins, I'm gonna have to watch what I eat with her around._

Harry made it a point that for the remainder of the meal, he sampled small bites first before digging in. 

Once dinner was over, they hopped on a cable car for a tour of the city. Harry's breath was taken away by the nighttime view of downtown San Francisco from the top of Nob Hill. At the end of the ride, the two of them agreed that she would be the tour guide on Saturday and Sunday as well.

Saturday morning the two of them had breakfast at the Academy mess hall and set out for the day. As soon as they had left the Academy grounds, Harry looked over at Johansson "You know, while we're out here on pass, feel free to call me Harry, I know it's not exactly by the regs and all that, but we're off duty so to speak. There's really no reason to just go by last names right now."

Johansson just looked at him oddly for a moment before responding. "Your name is Harry? Okay, Harry, call me Hui. Hui Johansson, world famous San Francisco tour guide at your service," she finished off with a cheery tour guide voice. 

Harry laughed as they set off. "Lead on!" 

The pair made their way to Pier 33 and took the tour ferry to Alcatraz Island. Harry found the tour informative and fun. He'd had no idea that the island had been a military fortress guarding San Francisco harbor before it became a prison. Through most of the tour, Harry was lively and asked many questions regarding the old prison, but when they stopped at Frank Morris' cell, one of the three men that had escaped but were never found, Harry became very quiet.

Staring at the cell and listening to how the men had escaped, Harry couldn't help but think about Sirius. _How did he manage to keep his sanity in a cell like this one? I mean, I know he was an animagus, but twelve years in a cage. With Dememtors and Merlin knows what else on that island. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the guards beat the hell out of him when he first got there; I damn well know that most people thought he was guilty even though there never was a trial. I wonder if they ever caught Pettigrew and cleared his name._

Hui saw that he was lost in thought and asked, "Harry what's up? Something bothering you?" 

Startled out of his musings, he replied "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my godfather. He was locked up for twelve years before he got out. Turns out he was innocent of the crime he was in jail for. I was just wondering how he kept sane in a cage like this one."

"He's out and okay now, right?" she asked. 

"Well, I lost him a few years ago, but he was doing the best he could the last time I saw him alive."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But at least he was free." 

"Yeah," said Harry. He looked at the cell one last time and shook his head, almost as if he was shaking off the depressing thoughts. 

"Okay. Time to get back to the tour," said Harry while putting on a bright smile. He put Sirius behind him. It would do no good to dwell on the past right now. 

On the ride back to the mainland, Harry was fascinated by all the life that seemed to be in the bay and surrounding area. Hui explained that the bay at one time had been fairly polluted but had been cleaned up and now just teemed with life. He had a grand time trying to spot different animals and to his pleasure, had spotted a shark fin breaking the surface and what he thought might have been a pod of dolphins racing one of the boats that were sailing along. 

They decided to have lunch over at Pier 39 and spend the afternoon shopping for Winona, Peter and Kim as well as messing around the amusements on the pier. Initially, Harry hadn't thought it would be a good idea to get something for Kim, as she was his ex, even thought they were still writing and seemed to be on good terms. 

During lunch, Hui put a stop to that line of thinking. 

"Harry, look...yes, I know she's your ex, but everything you've said about her is telling me that one day she may want to get back together with you. It's the little things like this that show her that you still care. If she decides that she's going to try and patch things up and make a go of it with you, it's the little things that are going to win her over. Not going back to Iowa as the all-conquering hero."

"What makes you say that?" asked Harry. He was a bit confused by this line of reasoning. 

"Who's the girl here? I may not have been going out with anyone when I went came to the Academy, but when I dated, that's the kind of stuff I liked from my boyfriends. Not the big school champion, but someone that did little things, and those meant more to me than winning a game. A lot of guys just don't think that way. You seem to want to, but are acting as thick as they come when it comes to doing something like this." 

Harry realized the logic of her argument and acquiesced "Well, okay. But you're gonna help me pick something out for Kim." 

"Deal," was Hui's cheery response. She liked shopping, and in this case she was helping a friend, which made it all the more fun. 

Going through the shops on Pier 39 took most of the afternoon. But by the end of the day they had found gifts for Winona and Peter. In Peter's case they found a color changing T-shirt showing several Pirates drinking in a bar. Harry's reaction when he had seen it was, "Perfect!" as the shirt reminded him of his and Pete's little 'excursion' on K-7.   
Winona was going to be receiving a blue Alpaca cardigan for those winter days and nights on the farm when it just didn't seem to get warm no matter what you did. It was Kim that they were having trouble with. None of the clothing stores or souvenir shops seemed to have anything that really appealed to Harry or Hui. Hui fully admitted that she was going off Harry's description of Kim, but she felt that she had a good idea of what Harry's ex girlfriend might like. After grabbing dinner at a restaurant that overlooked seals cavorting on some rocks by the pier, they resumed their search. About a half hour later they struck paydirt. At a small jewelry kiosk, Hui spotted a pair of small pearl earrings that were mounted in yellow gold. Harry took one look and agreed. 

On their way back to the Academy for the evening, Hui told Harry that they were going to Chinatown in the morning and that her grandfather wanted anyone that got a pass with her to come by for breakfast. When Harry asked why, she explained that her grandfather liked meeting new people and with her at the Academy, he'd be able to meet her classmates. 

The next morning Harry and Hui set off for Chinatown and breakfast. During the ride to the edge of the Chinatown district, Hui gave Harry a general history of the area and explained that even today, roughly 400 years after it had become the Chinese area of the city, the residents still tended to be insular in some ways and a bit suspicious of new people at first. 

Walking through the area Harry was fascinated by the brightly colored displays in the various shop windows and the difference in building styles from the rest of the city. 

Turning down a small side street Harry saw a sign hanging over a doorway and asked "The Jade Dragon. Is that your grandfathers' place?" 

Hui hesitated for a moment before answering, "Yeah, that's his restaurant and bar. Like I said, he likes meeting new people and with the bar, he gets to do that all the time."

Entering the establishment, Hui ran behind the bar and hugged an elderly Oriental man who had been polishing a glass. Hui waved Harry over. As soon as he approached the old man stuck out his hand saying "Mickey Kwok. It's nice to meet you Harry."

Shaking Mickey's hand Harry responded. "It's nice to meet you to sir. Hui has been going on about coming here for breakfast since yesterday afternoon."

"Oh, has she now? Well, I'd better not disappoint. So what are you two going to have?"

Harry ordered two scrambled eggs some sausage and toast while Hui got some sliced fruit and a bowl of rice porridge with minced pork. 

While waiting for breakfast, Hui told Harry about the bar and its history. As he listened to Hui, he couldn't help but compare the Jade Dragon with the Leaky Cauldron. Yes it was newer and brighter, but somehow Mickey reminded him of Tom the barkeep and the whole atmosphere seemed the same. 

Once breakfast was served, the two began to eat and in between bites, Harry said "Mmmm. This is great. Sirius would have loved this. " 

Hui stopped in mid bite. "What did you say?"

Harry looked at her and repeated "’Mmmm, this is great’?"

"No, after that."

"Oh, Sirius would have loved this." 

Hui's eyes narrowed slightly. "Harry, who is Sirius?"

Harry took another bite of his breakfast before answering. "Sirius was my godfather. He turned into a bit of a foodie after getting out of prison. I told you about him doing time yesterday at Alcatraz." 

An odd look crossed Hui's face. It was almost as if she was solving a riddle but didn't quite have the final piece.

"Harry, what year were you born?"

Harry looked at her oddly. He wasn't sure what that had to do with anything. 

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Go ahead and try me," said Hui. 

Harry shrugged and said, "I was born July 31, 1980. Why?"

Hui's eyes widened dramatically while her complexion quickly drained of color. The spoon slipped out of her fingers and clattered on the table they were at. 

In a loud voice she exclaimed, "YOU'RE HIM!"


	9. Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 9: Discovery

"YOU'RE HIM!!"

"Hwwaah???" said Harry. He had not been expecting that type of reaction from Hui regarding his birthday. 

"You're HARRY POTTER! The-Boy-Who-Lived-And-Vanished!" Hui exclaimed again loudly. 

Harry looked around the bar and the few patrons that were there had all stopped eating and were staring at Harry with gobsmacked expressions on their faces. 

Harry smacked his hand to his forehead and just muttered, "I thought I had finally ditched that name."

"Why didn't you tell me you're Harry Potter?" Hui was still excited but had lowered her voice. 

The other patrons had gone back to their meals, but were chattering excitedly and gesturing towards Harry and Hui's table.

Harry just shook his head. He was still in shock over Hui's reaction to his name and hadn't really processed the rest of her statements. "I did tell you I'm Harry Potter. I thought I did that back when we started out on Saturday."

"Well, yeah, you did, but you said you were Harry Potter, not HARRY POTTER," said Hui as if that explained everything.

"I don't see what tha…" Harry stopped in mid sentence. Her reaction to his name and the other customers' subsequent reactions registered like a two-by-four in his consciousness.

"Hang on. You're a witch!" exclaimed Harry. He had realized that the only people that would have known about that Boy-Who-Lived moniker were witches, wizards and squibs.

"No shit, Sherlock. So is everyone here."

"Where the bloody hell have you guys been hiding? I've been looking for witches and wizards since I got here." He was ecstatic about having finally found some magical people but wanted to know why they hadn't sent anyone when he was overpowering his spells trying to attract attention. 

"What do you mean hiding? We've been looking for you for damn near three hundred years, Harry." Hui was confused by his statement. 

"Look, when I got back to Earth, I tried everything I could to signal any Aurors or people in charge that I was around, without breaking the Statute of Secrecy and I got diddly-squat." Harry wasn't mad in any way, but desperate for answers.

Mickey sat down next to Hui. "Harry, there are no Aurors these days. There's really not anyone around keeping an eye out for magic anymore. Now, before everything goes all pear-shaped, let's see if we can figure out what happened and fill in the blanks."

He stood up and announced to the bar. "OK everybody, if you got plans for the day, you may want to cancel them. Harry Potter is back and we have a mystery on our hands. Gather 'round and lets see if we can figure out what the hell happened."

HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOS

There were only six other people in the bar that could contribute to the conversation. The Lee's were a young couple with two small children. There was also an elderly couple in their 80's named the Morans. The two single patrons were Jake Bolton, a younger man that worked overnights, and Sally Franklin, a middle aged woman who had stopped by for breakfast before going into her office to do some work. As necessary, they called who they needed to and canceled their plans for the day. 

After everyone had settled in around Harry, Mickey spoke up. "Harry, why don't you go first? If you tell us what happened from your point of view, that should allow us to figure out what you already know, so we don't repeat things." 

"Alright, well, it all started at the end of my fifth year at Hogwarts....." Harry began his tale. He went over the fight in the Department of Mysteries and the accident with the time sand. He was very careful to edit out the pieces dealing with the Guardian, as no one there had the clearance to know about that. He went on to explain that he had done his level best to protect the secret of the wizarding world and maintain the Statute of Secrecy. As far as he knew, he had been successful and Starfleet thought he was the only person in existence with his abilities. Continuing on, he explained how he had begun trying to signal any magical authorities when he arrived at Starfleet Medical and continued at the Kirk farm in Iowa. He finished off his story with his investigations in England and their results. 

As he finished Hui exclaimed, "Are you nuts!?! Nobody goes to England unless they have a death wish. Any witch or wizard leaves there as soon as they can. That place is cursed." There was a shocked look on her face. The rest of the patrons echoed her sentiment in overlapping expressions of dismay. As far as anyone present knew, every witch or wizard that had gone to England after the nuclear holocaust to investigate had come back with a persuasive feeing of evil and flat out refused to go again. No one magical had been there in over a century, as far as they knew. Yet here was a young man that had been there on three different occasions and had gotten closer than anyone since WWIII to one of the preeminent centers of magical learning from before the war. 

Harry looked at the small gathering around him. "I don't think it's cursed, I think there's a repelling ward up, or something like it. It was just mild uneasiness when I first got there, but it flared big time when I did any magic. It got worse as we got closer to Hogwarts, right up until I hit that barrier a few miles from the castle. I wouldn't be surprised if there are even nastier wards closer in."

"Well," Mickey sighed, "that certainly explains what happened and where you've been. I think between all of us here, we can fill the gap between when you had your accident and now. Hey TONY! Come out here for a moment, will ya?" 

A moment later a House Elf popped into the middle of the gathering. Harry stared open mouthed at the oddly dressed creature. Tony was dressed like a fry cook and sported an enormous chef's hat on his head. 

"You'se called me Mr. Mickeys sirs?" asked the little creature. 

"Tony, can you refresh everyone's drinks and prepare some snacks? Make sure the kids get something that they'll like, and some coloring books, alright?" Mickey asked the House Elf. 

"Yes sirs, Mr. Mickeys sirs," replied the elf and popped out of the room. 

Harry blinked as the elf left. "A House Elf? That's the first one I've seen since I left my own time. Mickey, what happened to the elves? My friend Hermione was really against House Elf slavery. Is he…" 

"Oh, good lord no. There never were very many elves in the States, and we abolished that slavery business with them centuries before the War. Not too many of those prissy purebloods came to the Colonies, after all; it was mostly the Muggleborn, half-and-halfs, and a few younger sons with no chance to inherit. The elves in Europe, well, when everything went to hell, a lot of them died when their masters did, or soon thereafter. A lot of them weren't capable of coping with freedom after the loss of their masters."

Harry nodded, remembering Winky.

"The ones that didn't die, they went and moved to places that would have them. For the most part, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and the States took in a lot of refugee elves. They assimilated themselves into the remaining wizarding populations. There still aren't too many, but there are three that work here and they are all well paid. 

Harry pondered this for a moment. _Hermione would have been happy that there were no more elf slaves. Hang on...._

"Remaining wizarding population? What do you mean by that?"

Mickey sighed and the others just shook their heads. 

"Harry, after you vanished, things went downhill pretty quickly. From what we know, Voldemoat managed to take over in England within about five years. Most Muggleborn and half-bloods left as soon as they could; those that didn't were subjected to harassment at best, and many faced torture and death. It was open season on squibs, Muggleborns and half-bloods. It was worse for those who were, say, part Veela or Giant. As far as the Purebloods and Voldemoat were concerned, they were no better than animals. 

"A Pureblood family was fine as long as they followed his party line. Those that didn't were harassed, lost jobs and so on. Eventually, I'd say roughly five, maybe ten percent of the purebloods left. At the time, people were being told, and most believed, that you were out in the world somewhere training to take on the racist bastards in charge. When you didn't show up after a few years, people started to believe you were dead. Very few actually knew that you'd been lost somewhere in time," Mickey said sadly. 

Keith Moran spoke up at this point. "Mr. Potter, my family is originally from Ireland, so what I know is suspect since it was secondhand even when it was going on. From what I know, Voldiesnort…" 

Harry broke out in laughter at this name of Voldemort. "Guys its Voldemort, but call him what you want."

Keith blinked then smiled before he continued "Very well, Voldemort, apparently got it into his head that England was not enough and decided to try and bend other wizarding governments to his will. Most other governments wanted nothing to do with England and cut relations. Some were even more reactive and tried to take him out. After a few assassination attempts, Voldemort decided to send terror raids to the countries that didn't acquiesce to his demands. We know that he hit Beaubuxtons and Durmstrang and got a lot of the darker texts that they had in their libraries as well as killed anyone that got in their way." 

Sally picked up the story. "Mr. Potter… Harry, I work for an art gallery downtown and have always been a bit of a history buff. It goes well with the job. Keep in mind, so far we've only talked about Britain, which was in far worse shape than any other part of the wizarding world. There had been more than fifty years of constant, low level fighting against that Volde-whatsis person, the society of the time was already in ruins or terrified that they might get raided. It all depended on where you were living. The wizarding population in Britain had fallen by at least fifty percent as many were killed and many more fled to other countries. But everything changed when the war came." 

Sally paused to gather her thoughts. "Before the war, wizards that were trained in western styles of magic -- that is, those who used wands to focus their magic, and probably looked at Merlin as one of the fathers of modern magic practices -- tended to concentrate their populations in hidden parts of larger cities. London, Paris, Boston, Moscow are all cities that had fairly large magical communities. It was easier to hide people who dressed and behaved oddly in a large crowd than in a small village. In a city, muggles just looked at a witch or wizard as the local crazy and tended to ignore them. If for some reason you and your family lived in an isolated area, you still tended to shop and work in those large magical areas."

Harry nodded. This information matched up with what he knew of the wizarding world and how wizards tended to behave and think. 

"The nuclear missiles that were fired by Colonel Green struck fifty-seven major cities around the globe. Mostly in Asia, but enough cities in Europe and the Americas were hit to pretty much send the world back to the dark ages for a period of time. The thing of it is, because of the way wizarding society had settled and a lot of bad luck on the part of the wizards, a lot of those cities contained major wizarding centers. So while the bombs killed about ten percent of the total population of the Earth at the time, it also wiped out about thirty percent of the wizards and witches, and over three-fourths of the ones who were considered masters of their magical crafts," finished off Ms. Franklin.

Jim Lee took over. "Mr. Potter, I'm a banker by trade, and work over at the Federation consulate figuring out planetary finances and so on. Anyway, after the war broke out, the goblins, who were never close friends of wizards, responded to their own heavy losses and near decapitation of Gringotts leadership by closing the banks, sealing themselves into their underground caverns along with the contents of everyone's vaults. To this day no one has seen or heard from a goblin since then. Everyone, from the richest pureblood to the most humble shopkeeper, was reduced to utter poverty by their actions and honestly, I can't really blame the goblins in the least bit. After the goblins had exiled themselves, the value of the few galleons still in circulation shot through the roof...until it became clear that the wizarding economy was collapsing and they would need to rely almost exclusively on muggle commerce just to survive. Luxury items were unheard of, not when just getting a loaf of bread to feed your family could get you killed in some areas. After a short time, the galleon became almost worthless, more a collector's item rather than a unit of currency. The few governments not totally wiped out by the bombs soon collapsed as they lost the ability to pay their employees."

Jim looked at Harry, who was both fascinated and horrified by the story at the same time. 

"This is some conjecture on my part, mainly because there were so few records kept by anyone from right after the war started until the Vulcans made first contact a few years later. But as near as anyone can tell, wizards and witches struggled to survive alongside their Muggle counterparts. Some tried to stay separate, and there may still be a few isolated communities out there, living off their magic in the name of staying "pure". Most of the wizards, though, had to get Muggle jobs and learn to make their way in the Muggle world. 

"There was no wizarding government left, no infrastructure. Almost all of the major schools had been destroyed or contaminated. The Dobrynya Nikitich School and Salem Academy were vaporized when Moscow and Boston were destroyed. Durmstrang burned to the ground when Gdansk was hit and the fires burned out of control. Beaubuxtons was downwind of Toulon; the fallout reacted badly with the wards and it was almost impossible to salvage anything of value. Hogwarts itself wasn't damaged as far as anyone knows, but within a month of the bombs falling, the English survivors all left and no one can get near the place. Books on magic are incredibly rare and hard to find these days."

"What about the other schools here in the States?" Harry wondered. "I thought there were more than just Salem."

"There were a couple of others, but by the time the war happened, Salem was the only one holding classes. L'Ecole de Magie in New Orleans was damaged by a bad hurricane and flooding, and was abandoned about fifty years before the war. That may have been a few years after you disappeared; I don't recall what year it happened. The Tehachapi Institute in the mountains north of Los Angeles opened up to replace it, but it was heavily damaged in the Great Earthquake in the 2050's. I think they were in the process of rebuilding when the war came, but it was never completed. The end result of all this was the children were raised and educated alongside their Muggle neighbors. Any magic had to be taught at home, in whatever spare time their parents could spare from the sheer effort to survive."

Jim paused and took a sip of his drink. "I guess it took about twenty years for the world to recover and maybe another ten to reach the levels society had been before the war started. In the meantime we had a whole generation of young wizards and witches who had never been to a magical school. There were very few wand makers and so few wand core materials left that there just weren't enough new wands being made to go around. If your wand got broken, you couldn't get a replacement. After a few years, most young wizards and witches couldn't get wands of their own, or any wand at all, unless their family had extras. If you were lucky enough to have a wand that would work for you, it probably wasn't a good match and performing anything but the most basic spells was a lot harder or impossible. Some kids may have gotten a good education, if their parents were talented and good teachers, but most of them learned common household charms and little else."

Harry's mind was whirling as all of this information slammed into him. "You said things were pretty much back to normal after twenty years or so, though. We live a lot longer than Muggles, so there should still have been plenty of trained wizards around to restart the magical government, open new schools, and such. Why didn't that happen?"

Jake took over from Jim. "Look, Harry, a couple thousand years ago, people had every reason to try and find out what they could do when they figured out that they had magic at their command. I mean, think about it for a second. Back then, if you were a wizard, you could learn to travel across the country in a few hours, while it took weeks for the non-magical. Injury or illness might kill or permanently cripple a Muggle, but a wizard could be healed up in a day or so. If they got attacked or needed to attack something, be honest, a cutting curse or blasting curse was a lot faster and more effective than a pointy stick or tossing a rock at something. 

"But even two centuries ago, after the war, Muggle technology was advanced enough to give them many of the same advantages that a magic user from back then had. They could go around the planet in a day, defend themselves -- or if need be, kill -- with the push of a button. If they were sick or hurt, most things could be taken care of in a few days at the longest.

"After those twenty years of having to adapt and acclimate to the Muggle world, most of the witches and wizards were too entrenched in their new lives to easily go back to the old ways. And their children didn't want to give up the technology they'd grown up with."

Hui looked down at the floor and quietly said "Harry--- witches and wizards have been all around you the whole time you've been back. Most of them are Muggleborn or descendents of Muggleborns who were never told about the magical world, so they don't know that they are magical, or if they do they usually don't really care. The rest of us, those who grew up in magical families that passed down the stories of the old wizarding world, aren't much different. Most of us don't have wands -- after two hundred years, most of the old family wands have either been broken or are too brittle to use. Very few of us know more than a couple of spells, and we don't really need to. In today's society the only advantage to being able to use magic is if the power goes out, you could still do most of the same things that you could with the power on."

Harry got up and looked at everyone. "This is a lot for me to take in. give me a bit to let it settle before I ask any questions. You cleared up a lot questions for me." 

He moved off to a secluded part of the bar and sat down. Harry just stared at the walls and ceiling, assimilating what he had heard and thinking, _I had no idea. There is still magic in the world but all those witches and wizards, killed because of two madmens' dreams of world domination. These people, they've been robbed of their birthright. They should know what it feels like to be a wizard, not a poor imitation. They should be able to go to school and know the feel of a spell cast properly. Hell, they all should have their own wands. What a waste. I wonder, if things had been different, if I hadn't gotten lost in Time...could I have changed things? Damn Voldemort and Colonel Green to hell._

Mickey came up to Harry with a small porcelain cup. "Harry, I know you're not supposed to be drinking while you're at the Academy, but you need this and it's only the one shot."

"What is it?" asked a depressed sounding Harry. 

"Saki. I know, I know, it's not Chinese, but it's the best thing I can think of to have when you've had the rug pulled out from under you. If I was in your shoes, well, I've got no idea of what I would do. Having a shot won't change the past, but it'll make you feel a little better for a few minutes." 

Harry took the cup and downed it. The warm liquor burned its way down his throat and settled in his stomach. Harry coughed a bit as it went down but it did give him a warm feeling after a few moments. 

"Hui went upstairs to get her father's old wand and a few other things she thought you'd like to see. She'll be back down in a few. As far as I'm concerned, you're one of us. Anytime you're on pass, you can stay upstairs in the spare bedroom." The tone in his voice said it all. 

Mickey patted Harry on the shoulder and went back to taking care of the bar. 

Hui came up to Harry and sat down next to him. "Harry, I went and grabbed my dad's wand; I've been using it since he died, but it's not a great match. I remember him saying that it's mahogany and phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches in length. It's old, too, but still in pretty good shape. The other thing I want to show you is this book, which I also inherited from my dad."

Harry looked at Hui's wand. It looked slightly familiar, but he wasn't sure he wasn't imagining it. Wands all looked pretty much alike to his Muggle-raised eyes. Handing it back to Hui, he looked at the thick book that she had. It was bound it grey leather with what appeared to be star patterns embossed in it. He realized that she had given it to him with the face down. He turned it over and read the name embossed on the front: Lovegood.

"Lovegood? I knew a girl in school named Luna Lovegood. How did your dad get this?" asked Harry. He was a bit stunned that he had something that might have belonged to one of his friends from Hogwarts in his hands. 

It's my dad's family grimoire. It's been passed down for generations. I can't do many of the spells in it; I just don't have the basics to even try. The one thing my dad did before he died was to drill into me a copying spell that gets everything in this book, including any enchantments on the contents. He told me that every child in the family has to be able to copy this book perfectly, so they can pass down a copy to all of their children. He didn't know why but he just knew that it had to be done. Daddy wasn't very traditional, but this was the one thing that he was adamant about. I had to be able to make a perfect copy of this book with magic."

Harry just looked at the tome. He knew that a grimoire was something passed down within families. They weren't something you could buy at the local bookstore. As far as he knew, Luna had been an only child. If this book had been Luna's, and Hui's father had inherited it, that meant Luna survived the fight at the Department of Mysteries and the war, making Hui…

"Hui, are you one of Luna's great-granddaughters?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I've seen that name in here. She's my ancestor, about seven times great, I think. The book's got a family tree in it that self updates, but I haven't looked at it in a while. You know, there's a bit of a family mystery about two things in here. Let me open this up and show you."

Hui opened the book and went towards the center of the tome. Two parchment envelopes were tucked neatly inside. 

"Harry, I'm showing you this mainly because you're from the past and may know something about the first envelope. All I really know is that the first one asks a question and the second one asks a second question dealing with the first. Maybe you might know the answers." 

Hui removed the first envelope and showed it to Harry. On the front of it was a simple question: "What is your full name?"

Hui leaned over the envelope and said, "My name is Hui Johansson"

The script on the envelope faded away, then reformed to say, "I'm sorry, you are not allowed to read the contents of this letter."

The script then reset itself back to the original question. 

Harry thought the movement and style of the script looked familiar, but he couldn't place it. "Hmmm… I'm not sure, but let me give it try. Worst thing that can happen is it tells me the same thing."

Harry took the envelope and looked at the question before answering. "My name is Harry James Potter." 

The script began to reform itself like before, but this time the response was completely different. "Greetings, Harry James Potter. You have answered the first question correctly. Mr. Moony says that to read the letter contained within, you must tell me the Passphrase. What is the Passphrase?"

Hui looked at the envelope in shock. "It's never done that before. If you keep giving it the wrong name, it usually insults you."

Harry was still looking at the envelope thinking _Passphrase?!? Passphrase? I don't know any passphrase._

Suddenly it clicked. The familiar moving writing, and the reference to Mr. Moony. He knew the Passphrase. Someone who had known him very well had written this letter. 

"Hui, this letter is set up so only I or someone I entrusted with the key to open it could read it. I know what the Passphrase is."

Harry looked at the envelope again and said in a clear and confident voice, "I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good."


	10. Whoops!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 10: Letters From the Past

The envelope unsealed itself and a letter came out of it. Harry opened the letter and began to read. Surprisingly enough, the letter wasn’t from Remus after all. 

**7 July 1997  
Dear Harry, **

**This is Hermione writing you; you and I are the only ones left who would know the phrase to access the Marauder's map. It took me all of sixth year to figure out those charms. If you're reading this, then Luna was right and I was wrong. You read that correctly; Hermione is admitting that she was wrong about something.**

**You can stop laughing now. Really, Harry, stop laughing.**

Harry chuckled at Hermione's admonishment. It took him a few moments to calm down. Once he did, he continued to read. 

**Now that that's out of your system, let me explain why I'm writing this letter and how you got it.**

**When we were in the Department of Mysteries, something happened. You may have figured it out already but just in case you haven't, I'll give you the short explanation.**

**You were involved in an incident involving the Sands of Time. It is the same substance used in time turners, and is highly magical. Somehow, you were dusted with some unharnessed sand. Personally, I believe that it came from the bell jar that had the Phoenix in it, but I will never be sure. The long and the short of it is this: when you started to channel magic for a spell with the sand on you, it reacted and pulled you out of time.**

**Unfortunately, we didn't know when you were. Dumbledore believed that you went backwards in time, as the time turners are only able to send people backwards. Neville, Ron, Ginny and I pretty much believed the same. We searched historical records for some indication of when you ended up, but never found anything.**

**Luna claims that you went forward in time. And since you are now reading this letter, she must have been right. I am sending a copy of this letter to everyone I can think of -- the Weasleys, Dumbledore, Neville, Luna, and all the members of the Order -- so you'll get it no matter who you manage to contact. All of us hope that, whenever you end up, you'll get training to deal with Voldemort once and for all.**

**Now for the bad news. Apparently that prophecy you had with you says that you're the only one that can kill Voldemort. In addition to that, Dumbledore says that Tom went and created several items called Horcruxes. They are apparently very black magic. I'm not going to go into the details of how they are created, but the end result is that his soul is anchored to Earth and cannot die, unless you destroy the anchors first. Dumbledore believes he has identified all but one. The first one was his diary. You already took care of that one back in our second year. The second was the Slytherin family ring. Dumbledore and Neville went to retrieve that one during our sixth year. Neville was able to prevent the headmaster from being cursed by the protections on it, but lost an arm in the process. That one has also been destroyed.**

**The third Horcrux was a locket. Ron was killed while attempting to retrieve a decoy. The real locket still hasn't been found but we think it's somewhere inside Sirius' old house. The last anchors are a cup once owned by Helga Hufflepuff, Voldemort's familiar, Nagini, and Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. Those are the ones we positively identified. Dumbledore claims there is at least one more, but won't tell us what it might be.**

**We believe that the cup is in one of the death eaters' vaults inside Gringotts, but as of this writing, we can't be sure. Nagini is with Voldemort, and Dumbledore thinks that Diadem is somewhere in Hogwarts itself. We have gone all over the castle and can't find it, but Dumbledore firmly believes it and won't explain why at this time. As much as I respect the Headmaster, he certainly plays his cards close to the vest.**

**One other person has died since you vanished. Sirius was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange about ten minutes after you vanished. Dumbledore lead a rescue party to save us, and Bellatrix somehow managed to knock Sirius through a stone arch with a veil over it called the Veil of Death. Dumbledore told us it is a gateway to the dead, but one way only. The ministry used it as an execution device for hundreds of years, but as far as anyone knows it's been there for thousands of years. Everyone here wishes that it hadn't happened, but I do feel your loss.**

Harry stopped reading. Sirius had been killed trying to rescue him and it felt like a kick in the stomach. He knew that his godfather must have been dead for over two hundred years, but to find out that he went well before his time still hurt a lot. 

**Now for the last bit of news. Things in England have gone downhill since you left. Some Death Eaters got into Hogwarts at the end of our sixth year somehow, trying to assassinate Dumbledore. He escaped, but by the next September, Voldemort had pretty much taken over and Dumbledore had been sacked, again. I wasn't able to go back for my last year at Hogwarts.**

**I can see the writing on the wall for Muggleborns like myself, and Half-bloods like Seamus and Hagrid. I've urged as many people to leave as soon as possible but some are going to stay and try to keep under the radar, so to speak. There is a resistance to the Pureblood agenda forming, but I can't stay. If you and Ron were still here, still fighting, then nothing could make me leave. But you're lost somewhere in time, and Ron's dead. You were my brother, and Ron was more. Even though we were complete opposites, I loved him, and now he's gone.**

**To conclude this, my parents and I are moving to Australia and I'm not coming back to the land of my birth until either you come back to take up the fight, or the current regime is toppled and I can walk down the street without worrying about being killed for what I am.**

**Live your life to the fullest and find someone special to spend it with.**

**Love,  
Hermione Jane Granger**

**P.S. If Voldemort is still around, kill that Bloody Wanker for all of us.**

Harry quietly refolded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. The envelope resealed itself and the script rearranged back to the original question. 

"I'm so sorry Harry," Hui whispered. She had been reading Hermione's letter with Harry and realized that for him these people had been alive just a few years ago and he knew them personally. 

"No, it's okay. I made my peace about my friends a while back. Finding out how Sirius died hurts, but I know that he probably went smiling, thinking he was going to save me. That was Sirius: Act first, think later. It's funny, this letter explains what happened to my closest friends, but doesn't really say what happened later. I guess Hermione wasn't able to go back after she left. It would explain the photo I saw of her a few years ago, graduating from a university in Australia. Oh well, dwelling on the past isn't going to help now, I'm going to take her up on last request. If for nothing else, should they be able to look in on me from heaven, I'm not going to take the chance on getting haunted by them for not living my life. Now, let's see about this other envelope." 

Harry gently placed the first envelope back in the book and took out the second. Like the first, it too had a question. 

**Did you read the first letter?**

Harry looked at the question for a moment and then answered "Yes."

Just like the first letter, the script reformed itself to ask a second question.

**Where are the Crumple-horned Snorkacks found?**

Harry snickered at that question. He looked at Hui. "This letter has got to be from your grandmum. Only she would ask a question like that." 

Harry turned his attention back to the letter and stated clearly. "Sweden."

What he didn't expect was a third question to form. 

**What color is your shirt?**

Hui and Harry looked at the letter then each other. "What color is my shirt? What sort of question is that?" they both asked at the same time. 

Harry thought for a moment and then voiced a suspicion that he had held about Luna.

"Hui, I'm going out on a limb here so bear with me. When I knew Luna, she was always an odd duck. Not in a bad way, mind you, but it was almost like she was experiencing reality differently. Now, back when I was going to Hogwarts, the Divination teacher was a loon that always kept predicting my death. Personally, I always thought she was on something, but as far as I know she only had two real predictions. So my views on the subject are colored. But what if Luna really was a seer? Could she have seen this? I'm going take a chance and guess that she did have some sort of vision and saw us here, today. Here goes nothing."

Harry refocused his attention to the envelope. Both of them were wearing their cadet uniforms which had gray tunics and black pants. Harry answered the question carefully. "Gray."

The envelope unsealed itself and Harry carefully extracted the letter.

**5 August 2070**

**Dear Harry,**

**Hi Harry, how are things going there? This is Luna, if you haven't guessed. The wrackspurts asked me to write you now and, well, you know me. If they ask, I'll do it. Is one of my great granddaughters next to you? I think she was when you opened this. If she's not, go get her; I've got something to ask her. I'll wait for a moment while you go get her.**

**Hi great granddaughter! This is your nutty great-grandmum. I've got a question for you. Are you looking after Harry? You should be. Make sure he eats enough and keeps out of trouble. Make sure if he gets hurt, he goes and sees a healer. He can be stubborn that way. Is he getting moody again? If he's being a sourpuss again, tell him that the Nargles are coming to get him, then pinch his cute butt. Before you say anything, just look at his butt and start blushing. I'm 89, I can say these things and no one's going to stop me now.**

Hui was blushing at Luna's written antics while Harry was snickering at Hui's expense and at Luna just being Luna. 

**Okay you two, I need to be focused here for a moment. Oh, who am I kidding, when have I ever been focused? Go ahead and laugh Harry, it's okay and you need to laugh more. You're so handsome when you do.**

**I'm sure that you know what has happened by now, so I'm not going to go sic the nebelwoofers on you about that. In case you’re wondering, Hermione somehow figured out the charms on some map she had and this password thing was one of them. Pretty cool but she needs to get out and relax more. What you do need to know is this: the Bumblebee's sting clipped Quetzalcoatls' wings. Heliopath nests took care of all but three of the pins. To get to the serpent's son, remember your childhood protection, find the plaque and touch the Bumblebee's wings. He'll get you to the arena. You can trust this with your life, because the fanged one helped.**

**All right you two, I need to go get your great grandfather out of trouble. He's wrestling jackalopes without Cheese-whiz again.**

**Now don't forget, you both look better in black and maroon. Harry, don't get mad at her, she had your best interests at heart and trust the Hornswaggler, he'll never tell.**

**Great-Granddaughter, it'll happen when you least expect it so don't worry, you'll be very happy.**

**I'll talk to you two later.**

**Luna**

Harry reached for the PADD that was stuck to his belt. He took it out and began to copy the information that was in Luna's letter. 

"Harry, why are you copying that down? We can take the letter with us," asked Hui. 

Harry kept writing and responded "No, we can't. This needs to stay with the book. It's part of your family legacy. Now, based on the tone and how I remember Luna, it's pretty clear that I was right: she was a seer. I'm guessing that she saw multiple realities or futures -- hell, maybe even dimensions -- while existing in ours. It looks like she was able to develop some semblance of control of the ability. Some of this is pretty obvious, but other parts are going to take time to figure out. Like this last part. I have no clue as to what she's going on about. Maroon and black? Who is she talking about? Trust the Hornswaggler? It's stuff like that we need time to figure out. I'm assuming some sorts of predictions, but about what? If we can figure out what she's referring to, we'll be prepared for the events when they occur."

"Well, okay. I can see your point. I don't necessarily agree with not taking the letter. But I can understand why you say it needs to stay with the book." 

Hui looked at her watch and whistled. "Damn, it's lunchtime. I wasn't expecting to spend this much time here today. You want to have lunch here?" 

Harry nodded while finishing off his transcription. He refolded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. Just like the first letter, it resealed itself and the question reset. 

During lunch Harry spent some time chatting with Hui's grandfather. He was quite the joker, reminding Harry nostalgically of Sirius at times. After laughing at yet another off-color joke, Harry shook his head. "Mickey, you sure aren't what I would have expected."

"How so?" the older man asked curiously.

"Well, I always thought a Chinese grandfather would be...you know, all mystical and wise beyond understanding."

Mickey blinked, a surprised look on his face, and burst out laughing.

"Jesus, Harry, after all we dumped in your lap and you go and say that. I love it, I need the laughter. Well, just between you and me, you've been watching too many old movies. It's all an act for the tourists and holo crews. That 'Confucius says' crap is a line of tripe. Most people haven't read Confucius. I sure as hell didn't. But if you really think about it, we're just giving you some common sense advice that's been made up to sound mystical. Next time you see some old Chinese guy trying the mystical wise man act, tell the old fartknocker to lay off the BS and just say what he means." Mickey moved off to another customer's table, still chortling with mirth. 

After lunch, Harry and Hui headed back to towards the Academy. Neither one wanted to sign back in from pass just yet, but felt it would be best to be heading back that way. Walking along the waterfront, Harry was admiring the houses built along the shoreline as well as the small boats that were tied up along in the various marinas along their route. 

After admiring a particularly old yet new-looking home, Harry said "You know, it's funny. Back when wizards and witches first started trying to keep themselves separate, it made sense. They were afraid that "normal" people, Muggles, were still in the dark ages and would either be hunting them down with torches and pitchforks or be clamoring for them to use magic to fix all the worlds problems. Looking back, I can understand that mindset to a point, but if the idiots in charge back in my time had opened their eyes and tried to integrate with the Muggle world, I don't think all the destruction would have happened. Even if Col. Green couldn't have been stopped, I wonder if the wizarding world would have been able to keep the planet from falling as far as it did."

"Introspection, Harry? You don't seem the type. You're more of a 'charge into places where angels fear to tread' type of person, as far as I can tell." said Hui after thinking a moment about Harry's statement.

"Yeah, I am to a certain extent. Hermione called it my "people saving thing." I'm just applying some of what we've been going over in Poli-Sci to what I know happened to wizarding society. One day we're going to be out in the fleet, and being able to think about a problem first before leaping in with both feet may not be a half-bad thing." said Harry. 

"Harry, you might want to talk with Professor Manz about it. Remember, he did a bunch of work regarding advanced societies interfering with more primitive ones. If I remember correctly, he's also on the prime directive commission. He's probably the best one for coming up with a logical solution to what could have been." 

"You're right. I'll go set up an appointment to ask him about that type of scenario."

The two of them continued to walk along the waterfront. As the sun began to dip towards the horizon, they finally realized the time and caught a taxi back to the Academy. 

Once they signed back into the company, Hui looked at Harry and said "Potter, I had a good time on pass. We should do it again sometime." 

Harry blinked a few times before responding. "You know, when you're right, you're right Johansson. We probably should one of these days. I'd like to see more of the city. Well, see you later." 

Hui moved off but looked over her shoulder at Harry heading up the stairs to his room. She smiled and muttered to herself , "Grandma was right, he does have a cute butt."


	11. Academy Days

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 11: Academy Days

Over the next few weeks Harry had to set his thoughts of the wizarding world aside as he buckled down in his studies. The Academy staff informed the plebes that those who were not performing well enough academically would be restricted to campus during the winter break. Harry had no intention of spending the two week break stuck on campus doing all sorts of busy work. If he wasn't on restriction, Harry wanted to go back to Iowa to spend Christmas and New Year's at the farm. He was also hoping to see Kim if possible, but he knew from her letters that she had taken a part time job at one of the Media outlets selling advertising. The holidays were their busiest time and she was apparently doing very well. 

At the end of November Harry felt that this GPA was going to be high enough to allow him to go back to Iowa for the break. The plebes were also informed that all of them had to join a sports team of some type in the coming semester. A listing of the various teams and sports available had been posted and most of his squad had gravitated towards team sports such as rugby or lacrosse, but Harry and Hui didn't. Hui had apparently been a very competitive bike rider before coming to the Academy and tried out and secured a spot on the varsity bike racing team. 

Harry, on the other hand, had his interest piqued when he read the description of the modern pentathlon. Of the five events, Harry knew he was very good at two and fairly good at two others. While the last event, swimming, wasn't his strong suit, he had finally been able to take swimming lessons during his high school years in Riverside. And it was the only one of the five events he had previous experience with in a competitive setting. _Of course, I had some help from the gillyweed last time._ Shaking his head ruefully at the memory, Harry decided to try out for the varsity pentathlon squad. 

On the day of the tryouts, Harry's squad came to the athletic stadium with Harry to support him in his bid. Harry figured that even if he didn't qualify for the full pentathlon, he could get onto the team for one of his two best individual events. 

The twenty-third century Starfleet version of the modern pentathlon was slightly changed from the version in the twentieth century Olympic Games, though four of the five events were still generally the same. Replacing the original equestrian portion of the competition was a flight skills event, using standardized VTOL aircraft. This was a demonstration of flying skills, not how well you could trick out an aircraft. Unlike his years on the Quidditch team, where he'd usually had the superior broom, in this event Harry had to rely on skill alone.

The second event was shooting, with phasers instead of the original pistols. All contestants had to hit stationary as well as moving targets. 

The third event was fencing. Until recently, this had been a one-on-one matchup between two live opponents, but the Federation had recently worked out an agreement with a group of androids from a place called Mudd's World, and several were there as fencing opponents/evaluators in addition to performing other duties that had been agreed upon. They were almost immune to injury, which allowed the competitors to use more dangerous weapons and combat styles.

The fourth event was a 200 meter swim, which was immediately followed by the final event, a 3 kilometer run. The combined scores of all events determined a cadet's placement and whether or not they made the team. 

Harry's squad all sat in the bleachers to watch. Just before it was time for Harry to step onto the field, his roommate Ces'ka Rus'san pulled him aside and let him know that, no matter what, the whole squad was rooting for him. Apparently the betting between squads in the various companies was pretty fierce. 

"Okay, Russ, what's riding on my getting on the team?" asked Harry. He was curious to know how fierce the betting between squads was getting. 

Rus'san's antennae twisted about, almost as if to see if there was anyone listening. He rubbed his chin for a moment and said, "So far, a week's latrine and cleanup duty and, last I checked, 10 bars of gold pressed latinum. Potter, even Stendec placed a bet that you're going to get on the team." 

Harry blinked. Their Vulcan squad-mate was pretty picky about what he allowed himself to gamble on. "He did? Well shit, I'm going to have to get on the team now. Stendec doesn't bet on anything unless he calculated the odds are in his favor." There was a whistle from the field, and Harry's name was called. "Okay, it looks like I'm up. See you at the finish line." With a jaunty British army salute, Harry moved to the staging area for the flight event. 

Hui called after him, **"WITH YOUR SHIELD OR ON IT POTTER! I HATE CLEANING TOILETS!"**

Harry spun around and sketched out a bow to his squad; they burst out in laughter at the sight.

The Valkyrie class stunt plane, the designated vessel type for this event, had already been put through all preflight checks, so Harry simply climbed in and started it up. Once the gauges had reached the proper readings, he took off like a bat out of hell and sped into the obstacle course. 

On the ground, the judges were surprised at the speed and precision of Harry's flight. In the stands, everyone was in awe of the skill that Harry was demonstrating. No one had any idea he was this good. 

In the cockpit, Harry was thoroughly enjoying this event. In preparation, he had spent as much time as he could get in the simulator to get a feel of the aircraft. The simulator, however, was no substitute for the real thing. As soon as he took off, Harry felt like he was on his Firebolt once again. The little aircraft responded to his touch almost like it was grafted directly to his brain. Howling with joy, he finished the last maneuver and landed the plane on its pad in record time. 

Harry unstrapped himself and tossed his crash helmet to one of the ground crew. As his feet touched the ground, Harry was heard to mutter, "Damn, I forgot how much fun that is." 

Harry headed over to the shooting range. As he did so, the Academy flight master, who had been observing, moved to the judges table and asked for Harry's name. He explained that he wanted Harry to try out for the flight demonstration team the moment he was eligible. 

The range master handed Harry a charged phaser and said to him as he was about to start his run, "Good luck, kid. You'll do fine" 

Harry nodded and began the course. 

About halfway though the set, the rangemaster commented to one of the range safety officers, "Kid's got one of the best eyes I've seen for energy weapons. Damn near beat Chekov's record first time he picked up a phaser."

Harry overheard the comment and smiled while thinking, _If they only knew how close a phaser is to a wand._

He paid the price for his inattention on the next set of targets when he only scored a pair of sevens instead of the tens he'd had on earlier ones. 

Shortly after finishing the phaser range, Harry was called over to the fencing portion of the course. He knew that as soon as he finished this piece he had the back-to-back swim and run so he decided to try and conserve as much energy as he could for the last pieces of the course. 

Over the centuries the modern pentathlon had been modified as new races and technologies had come into play. The fencing portion had originally been with Epée style swords, but as the years had gone by, this rule had been changed so the contestants could use whatever style of blade they wanted. Since this change everything from Kukri fighting knives to Claymores had been used. Several years previously, a Vulcan by the name of Xon had even used a Lirpa in this portion. However no one had expected Harry to use a Klingon Bat'le'th.

When he pulled the blade from its case, an exclamation of shock came from the observers. One of Harry's squad, Cadet Melendres, exclaimed "Madre de Dios. ¿Donde hizo el consigue eso? "

Rus'san glanced at Melendres then responded "I have no idea what you just said, but I do know that those aren't just given out. You all know Potter doesn't like playing up his accomplishments, but this…" Rus'san just shrugged. 

Alexander 17, one of the Mudd's World androids, quickly evaluated Harry's blade and said, "Interesting choice. Do not worry about injuring me, and I will do my best to not harm you; just score points. You may begin when ready, Mr. Potter." 

Harry nodded at Alexander and attacked. In short order he had scored two points of the necessary three to win, but those were the only two that he was able to. The android had a massive database of fighting styles at his disposal. He was able to quickly analyze Harry's movements and devise a counter, quickly turning the tables and scoring points on Harry. 

As soon as Alexander had scored his third point, he bowed and said, "Mr. Potter, you are a gifted amateur. I suggest that you do all that you can to improve. There are formal fencing classes and a martial arts instructor who will be available for you to utilize starting next semester. You have the potential to be a truly great swordsman. It is now time for you to continue on your course. Good day." 

Harry nodded and placed the sword back in its case. He then took off for the swimming piece of the course. 

The last two events were anticlimactic. He did well in both, but as he expected there were others who were faster. 

Harry moved to the Judges' table and received his scores. In total he had just barely scored enough to make the team, his high scores in the first two events making up for his less stellar run and swim times. He would be competing for the remainder of the Academic year. Until the season was over there would be a daily practice, one event per day, with intramural competition on every other Saturday. If he worked hard and improved immensely, Harry might have a shot at the Olympic Games after his junior year, but that was a ways off.

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When Christmas break rolled around Harry was able to go home to Riverside. Arriving back at the Kirk family farm, he felt the stress from his studies and the pentathlon competitions come off his shoulders, if only for a little while. He spent that first day just sitting back and relaxing around the farm, doing some chores but not really concentrating on any specific thing. Looking back, Harry realized he would have laughed if an older version of himself had come through time and told a nine year old Harry, slaving away in Petunia's garden, that he would be willingly doing chores on a farm to relax when he was nineteen. 

The day after he came home, Harry called Kim at her place in Iowa City. The call lasted several hours, but by the end of the call, they had realized that while they still cared deeply for each other, they had drifted apart in the past several months. They mutually agreed to not try and see each other, as they wanted to remember all the good times and not take a chance of doing something that would destroy what they still had. Even so, they had each gotten the other Christmas presents. Shortly after they had finished the call Harry got into the 'vette and took Kim's present to her parents and picked up his gift from them, with no plans to open it until Christmas morning. 

Christmas it self was enjoyable and all the gifts were well received. As much as he still missed Kim, Harry did not attempt to go and visit her. He spent an hour or so looking out the front window of the living room at the road down the slight hill the house sat on just reflecting on how much things had changed in his life. At one point, he could have sworn that he saw Kim drive past in a new vehicle and he a hard time restraining himself from casting an Accio Kim when he saw the car pass by. However he respected her wishes and did not attempt to see if it was her going past. 

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Two days after Christmas, Harry, Winona and Peter sat down to tackle the issue of Luna's prophecies. Harry had made copies of his transcription to make notes on and go over. After reading through the transcripts, Winona asked, "So Harry, what have you figured out so far?"

Harry sat quietly for a moment before responding. "Well, I'm going to take this in two parts. First is going to be the bit before the jackalope comment then the rest of the predictions. The Bumblebee is Dumbledore. I remember Hermione pointing out that that's what the name meant, so it's no mystery. Quetzalcoatl and the serpent's son are also pretty obvious. They both have to be references to Voldemort. Remember, he claims to be Salazar Slytherin's direct descendant and Slytherin's personal symbol was the snake. The heliopath nests--"

"What the heck are heliopaths?" Peter asked.

"Luna once described them as spirits of fire, that gallop around burning everything they touch, or something like that. That has to be her reference to the nukes going off, which was about ten years before this letter was written. I think that means the pins are, well, they would be the Horcruxes, the things that were 'pinning' Voldemort to this world. It's the rest of this that's confusing. The childhood protection that Luna's referring to might be the blood wards that were around the Dursleys' house. If a witch or wizard was out to do me harm, they couldn't get near me. But I have no idea that's what she means by 'remembering' them. And as for the plaque, and the Bumblebee's wings? I have no clue."

Winona looked at the initial piece about Dumbledore. "Bumblebee's sting. Hmmmm...well, a bee dies when it stings something. Based on this description about the sting clipping wings, Dumbledore may have done something that weakened or trapped Voldemort, but maybe the effort killed him. Dumbledore was in charge of Hogwarts, right?"

"Yeah, he had been the headmaster for decades when I was a student there. Umbridge forced him out during my last year there, and I don't know if he ever got his job back."

Winona nodded. "If he was in charge for that long, I'll bet he knew the place better than anyone else alive at the time." 

Peter spoke up after a bit of thought. "Harry, I remember you telling us about Hogwarts, back when we were in Scotland, telling us about how there were wards to keep enemies of the castle out. I'm betting that even if he was ousted, Dumbledore still knew how to manipulate and control those wards. Do you remember if those wards around the school needed to be recharged or something?"

Harry tried to remember what he had heard over his years at Hogwarts about the wards. "I think so. I'd heard mentions of ward work being done over the summers. Realignments and maybe some boosting of the strength, depending on what sort of threats may have been believed to be against the place. I don't really remember anything about the wards having to be recharged, per se."

Winona asked, "How old was Dumbledore when your accident occurred?"

"I don't know exactly. He was well over a hundred from what I understood, but one of the test proctors for my OWLs had been Dumbledore's teacher when he was in school, so Dumbledore probably still had quite a few years left in him. Why?" asked Harry 

"You did say that wizards and witches lived longer due to their magic. A non magical person's lifespan doesn't usually go beyond about a hundred or so. Dumbledore would have been pushing two hundred years old when London was attacked in 2060, assuming that's when this ward thing happened. That's pretty old, but maybe not impossible for a wizard. What I'm thinking is that somehow Dumbledore used his magic to realign the wards around Hogwarts, maybe turned them inside out or something to trap Voldemort there, at the cost of his life. If Dumbledore did do something along these lines at such an advanced age, the effort probably killed him immediately or at best a short time later because of the lack of magic to sustain him." 

Harry nodded in agreement. Considering what he knew of what had happened and how magic worked, it made sense that Dumbledore would have sacrificed his life and magic to trap Voldemort at Hogwarts like that. It may have seemed like his only choice, with Harry not there to fulfill the prophecy. 

"Well, since we seemed to have solved that piece for the moment, I'm wondering about this 'fanged one' that helped. Luna says it's someone you trust. Anyone that you remember that might have been around when she wrote this?" asked Peter curiously. 

Harry thought about everyone he knew and trusted from the twentieth century. "There are only two people that might fit that description. Remus Lupin and Bill Weasley. Remus was a werewolf, and Luna's description would be a pretty good match for him when he was having his 'furry little problem'. Bill, on the other hand, is a bit more of a stretch but still a good candidate. He was Ron and Ginny's oldest brother and a curse breaker for Gringotts. He did a lot of breaking into old tombs and what not. When I met him, he had an earring made of a fang from some animal. 

"I don't know if Remus would have been still alive after seventy-five years, when Luna wrote her letter. He'd have been over a hundred years old by that time, and those transformations took a lot out of him every time they happened. I'm sure he was around to help Hermione with the password protections on her letters, but beyond that, I just don't know. Bill didn't have any curses or injuries that I know of that might have shortened his life, but with Voldemort taking so much control in Britain, I don't know what anyone's life expectancy was. Bill was a pureblood, though, so that might have given him a bit of protection. If nothing happened to him in the meantime, he could easily have been around in the 2070's. Come to think of it, since the 'fanged one' was mentioned in conjunction with the blood wards around the Dursleys, he might be a better candidate. Doesn't really matter, I'd trust either one of them."

"So either Bill or Remus rigged a way for you to get to this 'arena' and fight Voldemort. Most likely the 'arena' is Hogwarts, since it appears that he's trapped there," said Winona, putting the pieces together as they appeared to fit. 

"That's the long and the short of it. But I still have no idea about a plaque or the bumblebees' wings and how they might tie into the wards that were around the Dursleys. I know that the house is long gone, as is anything that might have been there to anchor the wards," said Harry, frustrated about getting so far but still missing key pieces. 

"Harry, honey, let's work on the rest of this and see what we can come up with, okay?" said Winona realizing that they had come to a dead end for now. 

"Alright," Harry sighed, then moved on. "I think that we can forget the comment about the Jackalopes; that seems more of a case of Luna being Luna and not making predictions. What about this black and maroon? Some sort of clothing choice is obvious, but in regards to what?" 

"I don't think that it's everyday wear so to speak. She may have been referring to a uniform, or suit colors. Heck, Luna may have been referring to the color scheme for a wedding party. One thing that I find interesting here is that she tends to imply these predictions are with your friend-- oh, what is her name... that's right, Whee -- throughout the letter. It's possible that Luna was also saying that you two were going to be together in some way," said Winona, fairly sure of here interpretation. 

Peter looked up from his transcript of the letter. "Did you ever figure out what your friend meant by the 'hornswaggler'?" he asked Harry.

Harry chuckled. "Nope. It sounds like another one of Luna's mythical creatures. She was always going on about nargles and crumple-horned snorkacks and such."

Peter shook his head. "'Horned' and 'swagger'...sounds like an Andorian, or a Klingon maybe."

Harry thought about that. The antenae or the brow ridges could both have led Luna to call them 'horned', and both groups had a tendency to arrogance. "Well, if Luna saw either one of those races in a vision, she wouldn't have known what to call it. Hell, maybe all those creatures she used to talk about are things she saw in visions that she didn't know the right name for. So, Andorian, or Klingon? My squad leader is Andorian, so that's very possible right there...though I already pretty much trust him, so why would Luna need to warn me? And if it was an Andorian, I'd expect Luna's name for them to mention the color blue."

"So maybe it is a Klingon," Peter agreed. "You do have that Klingon sword, and some Klingon clan out there ready to 'fight at your side' or some such crap."

"Maybe. Hopefully I can figure it out when the time comes. Now, I'm not sure who this woman that Luna was referring to is, it could be anyone that I may know right now, or someone that I'm going to meet in the future. But whoever it is, they are going to do something with my best interests in mind, but something I may not appreciate at first." Sitting back and tapping his chin for a moment, Harry continued. "I don't think that it's something to really worry about right now. I'm just going to have to think before reacting to things people do. The last bit is meant for Hui, so whatever Luna was referring to isn't really my business."

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Returning to the academy after New Years, Harry truly cracked the books in a way that would have made Hermione both proud and jealous of him. He was doing this not because of anything or anyone in particular, but it finally dawned on him that he could be his own man with no pressures of being the Boy-Who-Lived, better than Dudley, the expectations of an entire culture waiting for you to save it. Hui's advice from the weekend they had spent together and Hermione's admonishment to live his life had finally clicked, and he found himself enjoying the Academy regardless of what was sent his way. Harry lost himself in the intricacies of interstellar navigation theory, simple gardening around the quad, training till he dropped with martial arts instructors for the Pentathlon team meets, cheering his squad mates on in their athletic endeavors, and experiencing the joys of seeing new creatures in his exozoology class. He'd already studied a couple of creatures that he'd first seen described in The Quibbler back in the twentieth century, much to his amusement. All in all, Harry had finally found himself and was content. 

Earning another pass with Hui in early March was fun for both of them. During that semester, due to their differing specialties, they only shared two classes with each other: exozoology and shuttle operations. They helped each other out with the weak points that they had in these two classes, complementing each other and quickly becoming extremely close friends. They valued each other's advice and opinions and, as it turned out, enjoyed exploring the city and surrounding environs. 

On Sunday morning, as they had before, Hui and Harry both went to her grandfather's bar for breakfast. While enjoying breakfast, Harry noticed a Starfleet officer in the corner quietly eating breakfast and reading a newspadd. 

"Hui, do you recognize that guy in the corner? I can't get a good look at him, but he looks familiar."

"It's Lt. Sharpe. I wonder what he's doing here? I mean aside from eating, you nitwit." Hui responded to the comment she could see forming on Harry's lips. 

"Think we should go over and say Hi?" asked Harry. He was curious as to how their exozoology instructor had found the bar. 

"Naaaah… Let him eat in peace. If he wants to say hello, he will. But let's not bug him," responded Hui.

The two of them returned to their food and discussed what they might want to do that day. Neither one was paying attention to what the other patrons were doing and were a bit surprised when Lt. Sharpe came up to their table. 

"Mr. Potter, Miss Johansson, don't get up, but it's nice to see you two out enjoying the day," their instructor greeted them. 

"Yes, sir," they replied. Hui asked, "So, how do you like my grandfather's bar, sir?"

"Mickey's your grandfather? He's always been good a good host. I can remember coming here with my parents from Vancouver on business. Good memories. Anyway, enjoy your day."

Lt. Sharpe left the bar and left the two of them to their meal. 

Harry looked at Hui. "Do you think…"

"Almost certainly, Harry, or he wouldn't have found the place. But let's not bother him about it. If he wants to let us know, he will."

"Fine with me. Now what were you saying about this used bookshop you found down in Mountain View? Do you really…" said Harry as they moved out the door and out for their day.


	12. Schools Out

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 12: Schools out

The next few years of the Academy seemed to fly by for Harry. Academically, Harry stayed in the top ten percent of his class, though by no means was he the top student. He was never 'in hack' for poor grades or missing assignments, but he burned the midnight oil more times than he cared to admit trying to understand concepts that didn't even exist in the twentieth century.

At the team tryouts in second year, even though his run and swim times had improved and his scores in his two best events were still very high, Harry failed to make the cut for the pentathlon team. As he trudged dejectedly towards his squad mates in the stands, Hui hurried out to meet him and clasped him in a comforting hug.

"Thanks," Harry murmured into her hair, his chin resting on her shoulder. As he squeezed lightly to return the hug, Harry started to realize something. 

Now that they were out of the Plebe year and weekend passes were far more readily available, Harry and Hui had been spending almost every weekend together. Sometimes they spent the day at her grandfather's bar, where Harry taught her as many spells as she was capable of performing with her ancient, poorly-matched wand. Other days, they explored outside the area, their range having expanded beyond the city to points as far as Yosemite Park and the beaches of the central coast. 

But for all that time, Harry realized, he had kept the relationship on the level of "just friends", out of misguided loyalty to a long-dead relationship. His high school sweetheart, Kim, had moved on long since; her letters over the past summer had talked of her new boyfriend as much as her school work and her job. It was time for Harry to move on, too. He wanted something more than a memory, and Hui Johanssen, his fellow refugee from the remnants of the wizarding world, was a good place to start.

Harry pulled back out of the hug with a smile on his face, a sharp contrast to his earlier dejection at losing his spot on the team. Without a word, he leaned forward and kissed Hui gently on the lips. She jumped slightly in surprise, but quickly settled down and returned the kiss with enthusiasm.

"About time," she teased quietly when then finally broke apart again. 

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Hey, I'm a guy. We're a bit thick, sometimes."

At that point, the rest of the squad arrived and started trying to console Harry for the loss of his spot. Hui and Harry stepped apart to greet them, though no one noticed their hands still clasped together.

"Cadet Potter?"

The squad snapped to attention alongside Harry. "Sir, yes sir!" he responded to the senior officer addressing him.

"The Academy Flight Demonstration Team needs a new pilot. Are you interested, Cadet?"

Harry didn't have to think for more than a microsecond. "Sir, yes sir!"

"Report to the flight simulators tomorrow morning, Cadet." The officer turned and walked away without waiting for a reply.

"Sir, yes sir?" Harry whispered to the man's retreating back, stunned at the sudden reversal of fortune. His squad mates cheered and pounded on his back in congratulations.

 

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Towards the middle of Harry's second year, the _Enterprise_ had returned to earth after completing her historic five year mission of deep space exploration. When the statistics of the missions were released, Harry was extremely proud to have been associated with the _Enterprise_ crew, if only for a short time. 

In the two years since the _Enterprise's_ return, some of the command staff had served as guest instructors at the Academy. Lt. Chekov's class in Practical Navigational Tactics was fun and informative. His lecture had included real world examples of what worked, what didn't, and why. While Chekov hadn't ever had a chance to speak to Harry when he was aboard the _Enterprise_ , he remembered him for his role in the fight on K-7 and seemed to take pleasure in calling on 'Meester Pottur' for answers to questions he posed. 

Lt. Cmdr. Sulu's advanced aerobatics and maneuvering lecture had been a pleasure to attend and participate in, though it ended up being a bit more intense than anyone had expected. The discussion had gotten so deeply technical and heated in regards to what Mr. Sulu had done in various situations and improvements that Harry could see, that the class had almost thought the two of them would come to blows over certain aspects. What nobody had realized was that each of them understood the other's instinctive feel for flight and deeply respected their opinions. Had any member of the _Enterprise_ crew been present, they would have shrugged, told the class, "They're at it again," and started taking bets on the outcome of the soon-to-follow simbattle. 

Finally, when things seemed to be coming to a very nasty head, the instructor and the cadet looked each other in the eyes and said simultaneously, "Prove it." 

Sulu just said, "F-15C." 

Harry responded with, "Mig-29S."

Mr. Sulu dismissed the class for a half hour and asked them to reform at the flight sim observation lab for the demonstration. 

Mr. Scott and Mr. Chekov were walking down the hall when Sulu's' class was dismissed. The two of them spotted Potter and Sulu leaving the room with smiles and looks of determination on their faces. Mr. Scott looked over at Mr. Chekov and just said "Bottle of Jim Beam on 'Arry." 

Chekov just nodded and responded with a simple "Da."

The Class marveled at the display of flying abilities that Sulu and Potter showed in the simulator. They had figured that Harry would loose in about ten seconds however, 45 minutes later, they were still going at it. In the course of the dogfight, both of them had used all of their missiles and the fight had degraded to a 'knife fight' with neither one really gaining an advantage. 

Suddenly, it was over: coming out of a nine-G turn, Harry pulled a Pugachev Cobra maneuver and raked the belly of Sulu's' F-15 with cannon fire. The computers judged Sulu to be shot down, but they also ruled that Harry's Mig wouldn't have survived much longer either, as he had seriously overstressed the airframe and had fractured the main wing spar. The end ruling was that Harry had won, but just barely due to the destruction of his aircraft shortly after shooting down Sulu, and Sulu would have survived the ejection to fight again. 

After they both exited the simpods, Sulu gathered the class around. "Excellent job, Mr. Potter. It's been a while since I had to fly like that. Now class, there are several things to be learned from this. First of all, Mr. Potter was able to prove his argument as plausible. A technologically advanced aircraft or spacecraft is not necessarily better than one that is less advanced. Mr. Potter's use of a Mig-29 was an incredibly appropriate choice. The F-15 was one of the most technologically advanced fighters of its time. The Mig-29, which was a contemporary of the F-15, was slightly less advanced, but more robustly built due to different design philosophies. Mr. Potter was able to pull a maneuver that the F-15 cannot do and thus shoot me down. 

"This can be extrapolated to today's realities of space combat. A Federation Wilkerson Class Destroyer, for example, is more technologically advanced than, say, a Romulan Bright One Class Destroyer. However, because of the superior strength of the hull, a Bright One can do things such as enter an atmosphere at high velocities, which a Wilkerson cannot. Keep this in mind when you're out in the fleet, as it may save your life."

Sulu looked over at Harry, who had a sheepish look on his face and appeared to be getting ready say something. Sulu held up his hand, stopping Harry from saying whatever he had on his mind. "This brings me to my second point. Mr. Potter, there is no need to apologize for your behavior earlier. Sometimes, it's necessary for a junior officer to grab a senior officer by the nose and prove his point. I don't recommend doing that to an admiral, but if you do, make absolutely sure you're correct first, and be prepared to suffer the consequences if you're not. The thing to remember is that you need to be very careful if you're going to do something that may embarrass a senior officer. It's a risk, so you need to decide if the situation is serious enough, and be prepared to apologize and accept any disciplinary actions, even if you're right. 

"Excellent demonstration and class today. Class dismissed, and Mr. Potter, you've earned a pass for the weekend." 

 

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During the summer before his final year at the Academy, the students in Harry's class were assigned to various ships for a month of real-world experience known as the Cadet Cruise. The ships for these assignments were carefully selected to ensure the safety of the cadets, all of them running safe patrols or assignments in the heart of Federation space.

Cadet Potter was assigned to a mid-sized, unarmed tug on a cargo run between Earth and Andor. True to Harry's usual luck, half-way back to Earth the ship encountered technical difficulties, and was then set upon by an Orion raider attempting to commandeer the tug and steal the cargo.

Three hours later, Harry was transported directly into the sickbay of the _Constitution_ -class starship that had come in response to their distress calls and chased the pirates off.

"Harry? Harry James Potter, what the hell were you thinking?"

The battered cadet wiped the blood from his eyes and turned to face his irate girlfriend, who was spending her Cadet Cruise assisting in the sickbay of the starship. "Hey, Hui. How's it going?" he quipped, smiling slightly through the pain in his head and ribs.

"Don't you give me that innocent look, buster! You took an untested, experimental ship into a fight where you were outnumbered and outgunned! You could have been killed! As it is, you have..." Hui paused to run the medical tricorder over Harry's prone form. "...three cracked ribs, a serious scalp laceration, and a concussion!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "What, did you expect me to just sit back and let those pirates take my ship?"

"You're a cadet! It was not your job--"

Harry interrupted, "If I hadn't kept them busy and distracted, they'd have boarded us, killed the crew, and been gone before you guys could get here!"

The young medical student's eyes swam with tears. "That is not the point, Harry! That was the most reckless--"

"Hey, Gryffindor, remember?"

"--irresponsible--"

"Hui..."

"--foolish--"

"Um, Hui..."

"--thoughtless--"

"I love you."

"--hare-brai...wait, what?"

"C'mere," Harry beckoned with his blood-smeared hand. Hui stepped closer, and he reached up behind her head and pulled her down into a desperate kiss.

When they finally came up for air, Hui stood back up, trying to maintain her look of annoyance but not able to completely suppress her smile. "I love you, too, you idiot. Now let's get you fixed up, so I can prove it to you later."

 

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The middle of April 2273 found Harry's squad studying like mad for the upcoming finals in the middle of May. While they all had open passes on the weekends, they were seldom taken save for a stress break for a few hours. 

Harry made it a point that, every Sunday morning he could, he went to Mickey's for a few hours. Most of the time Hui accompanied him, but due to various commitments there were weekends that he went alone and just let the magic there relax him. When the two of them were there together, they used the few hours of downtime to recharge their batteries and practice magic. 

Harry had spent the past three and a half years teaching the untrained witch all the spells he could remember from his five years at Hogwarts; she had all the appearances of being a powerful witch if only she had a better-matched wand. She often got better results using Harry's wand than her old heirloom piece. 

Harry wished he could get hold of some basic textbooks to explain out theory and refine his teaching technique. As much as he hadn't enjoyed the theory portions of his Hogwarts education as much as the practicals, he knew the information would help Hui in the areas where his ability to explain the whys of magic spells failed him.

In their explorations of the Bay Area, they had found a few magical texts for sale, but in every case the books dealt with more esoteric branches and not the basics of how to cast a spell. Harry knew that he could find the very books he needed at Hogwarts, but had decided that just in case Voldemort was still alive and kicking there, his best chance of survival would be to finish school before attempting to figure out a way into the castle. 

His romantic relationship with Hui had grown warmer and closer since that first kiss in their second year, and had long since blossomed into full-blown love, as he'd realized after his close call the past summer. Theirs was a comfortable rapport, without the drama that Harry remembered from his first crush on Cho, and without the wild, hormonal highs and lows that he remembered from high school. They had never had a real fight, and they spent more time laughing and talking together than anything else.

On this spring Saturday, Harry and Hui's squad was sitting around several tables in one of the barracks day rooms studying different subjects. Outside, a late-season rain shower was falling, though the sun broke through the clouds on occasion. Currently, Harry had his nose in a book on subspace communication theory. Occasional questions were tossed out by various members of the squad on different subjects and without fail someone would be able to answer the question and explain it. Their four years together had welded this squad into a tight-knit group who knew each others' strengths and weaknesses. Their group had been remarkably free from the infighting and competitive bickering that plagued other squads. 

Harry glanced up from his studies and caught a glimpse of Hui. He was suddenly hit with a revelation. Hui was the one person that made his day and he couldn't imagine a day without her in his life in some way. Summoning up his Gryffindor courage he made a snap decision. Without looking up from his text he asked the single biggest question of his life. 

"Johansson, you want to marry me?" 

For a moment it appeared that she hadn't heard him, but then she responded, "Sure, I thought you'd never ask." A slight blush crept into her cheeks with her agreement. 

For a moment nothing seemed to have occurred, then Hui asked, "Week after graduation at the Academy chapel sound about right?"

Harry nodded. "Yep, should be enough time for everyone to get here."

With this exchange, several PADDs and books were dropped from their owners' fingers as the context of the questions between Harry and Hui finally registered in the minds of their classmates. A collective "WHAAT!!!!" rang out in the room. 

The newly engaged couple quietly looked out over the room at their stunned classmates. Almost as one, the gathered cadets fired off questions at Harry and Hui. The two of them just reached out and held each other hands and shared a look of 'Give me strength.'

Stendec, the only Vulcan in the room, stoically said, "Human mating rituals are… intriguing." 

Tara Vought, a tiny redheaded woman from the old American state of West Virginia, exploded at Stendec's comment. "That is NOT a human mating ritual! It's a travesty is what it is! Where's the bended knee?! Where's the diamond ring?! Where's the candlelight dinner?! WHERE IS THE ROMANCE?!?!?!" She finished the rant with both arms flailing in the air, emphasizing her argument. 

Stendec raised an eyebrow at Tara's exclamations. "I found Mr. Potter's proposal very efficient, and quite reminiscent of several bonding ceremonies I was privileged to witness when I was growing up on Vulcan. Are you saying that I am in error and what we just witnessed is not the normal human custom?"

Harry and Hui focused their attention to the argument brewing between the pint sized fireball and Stendec, who everyone in the cadet company knew to be about as emotional as Vulcans got, as well as a master at lacing his speech with double and triple meanings. He was the son of farmers, from a more rural and relaxed area on his home world, far removed from the urban, academic and political elite that had produced the first Vulcan Harry had met. Though all Vulcans appeared impassive and unemotional to the untrained human eye, Harry remembered Commander Spock as far more reserved and almost uptight about his emotional control. Stendec, in comparison, was almost laid-back.

"NO! It's not! It's a slap in the face to all marriage proposals! She should be slapping him silly for that, not blushing like a tomato!" Tara exclaimed while pointing at Hui. 

Stendec turned his attention fully to the newly-engaged couple. He appraised them for a few seconds. A definite wink and a ghost of a smile crossed Stendec's features, and then he turned his attention back to Tara. 

Harry and Hui both realized that Stendec was up to something and that Tara would either kill Stendec or want to kiss him for it. Harry thought to himself, _Did I just see the Vulcan equivalent of "Hey y'all, watch this"?_

"Miss Vought, I believe that you may be correct in your assessment. Would you be willing to assist me in rectifying the errors in my observations? You do appear to be something of an expert in human customs," said Stendec in a mild tone of voice. 

"Y'er damn right I will. Ya need to learn a few things about human behavior so ya don't make a fool of yerself out in the fleet. Dang it, I'm bettin' yer observations are all screwed up. Ya need a woman to show you what ya missed!" she exclaimed, Stendec's mild tone drawing her Appalachian Mountain accent to the fore. 

Harry and Hui burst out laughing at the fiery redhead's display of temper. 

"What the Hell are you two laughin at?" Tara turned, directing her fury at the proposal and Stendec's calm appearance towards the laughing pair. 

Hui took a moment to compose herself while Harry was still snickering. "Tara Marie Vought," she addressed her roommate, "think about what you just agreed to and I'll help you get ready for your date this weekend."

"Date? What are 'yall talking abou…" A look of realization crossed her face as she realized the secondary meaning of Stendec's question. "Oh…date," she said in a small voice. 

"Come on, short stuff, time we talked about this marriage of mine and stuff," said Hui as she stood up and took the now subdued shorter woman out of the room. 

Harry got up and began gathering Hui's belongings. He looked over at Stendec, who was doing the same for Vought's items, and asked, "Mate, just how long have you wanted to ask her out?" 

Stendec paused for a moment. "I had been contemplating it for about a month. Is this a problem?"

"Nope, just curious. But why her? She's one of the most emotional people I have ever met."

Stendec didn't say anything for a minute as he finished gathering up the last of Vought's belongings. "I cannot readily explain it, but it seemed to be the logical thing to do. What of yourself? Why Miss Johansson, and why now?"

Harry stopped for a moment to articulate his thoughts. "Stendec, I can't explain it either, it just hit me that I needed to have her in my life, as my wife. Like you said, it was the logical thing to do."

 

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At the beginning of May, Harry's squad went to the required communications security seminar that all seniors had to attend in order to graduate. The day long class was always taught by an active duty signals officer that had fleet experience. Harry and Hui sat next to each other towards the front of the auditorium. Harry knew who the guest lecturer was and they both wanted a good view of the podium.

Lt. Cmdr. Uhura was introduced and she began her lecture. The lecture itself was very informative and filled with anecdotes, showing how different technologies and procedures actually worked in a lively and entertaining way. Harry's location ensured that Uhura was aware that he was in the class, but she gave no indication that she saw him in the audience until she asked a question that Harry was more than ready to answer. 

"Can someone give me an example of transmitting in the clear and being encrypted at the same time?" Uhura asked the assembled cadets. Several cadets raised their hands, including Harry. 

"Cadet Potter, what have you come up with as an example?" Uhura asked when she selected Harry.

Harry stood up as required and a faint smile crossed his features as he began to speak in the Gorn language. _"Honored Hunt Leader, you are looking well and as you can see, I have mastered the True Tongue. To my rightclaw is my future nest-mate, and as you requested when we last spoke she will be available for your vetting. Now, to properly answer your question without delaying your teachings further, unless someone else that is present in this glade can understand the True Tongue and understand the context of what we are speaking, they will not be able to decipher what we may be speaking about. They will understand the words, but not the actual meaning of the words. One of the earliest examples of this method was the 'Navajo Code Talkers' from Earth's Second World War. They spoke in the clear, but if you did not know the actual meaning of the words, you could not understand the true meaning of their speech. As always, I look forward to your teachings, Honored Hunt Leader."_

Uhura blinked several times as she translated what Harry said in her head. A dazzling smile blossomed on her face as she responded. "Excellent demonstration, Mr. Potter. Class, several years ago I had the pleasure of being Mr. Potter's language instructor for a brief time, and he just reminded me of my last instructions to him. Most of you may have only understood the words 'Navajo Code Talkers' and 'Earth' in what he said. For those of you that were wondering, Mr. Potter is fluent in the language of the Gorn, and his choice of it to make his demonstration was incredibly appropriate. The example that he gave was the Navajo Code Talkers and the fact that even if another Navajo could listen in to their transmissions, without knowing the true meaning of the words that they were saying, he could think that Code Talkers were having a conversation about fishing, when in fact they might be calling in a position report or requesting an evacuation. Mr. Potter's demonstration was a perfect example of this. Mr. Potter, request granted. I'll see you after class for a more detailed explanation."

 

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"TAKE…SEATS!" The command rang out in the Academy stadium. Harry sat down, his new maroon and black uniform almost reflecting the morning sun. It was graduation day and he had finally made it. He was sure that all his friends and family were looking down at him and getting ready for a party in his honor. The faculty members were on the stage in the older, unpopular gray uniforms. 

Harry understood now why those uniforms had been so quickly replaced. He had been prepared for the gray, robe-like uniforms, but he had no sooner put one on than he realized that, despite the resemblance to the robes that Wizards traditionally wore, these were nothing like them. He despised them immediately, as did most of his classmates (and most of the rest of the Fleet). Luckily, within a month of Harry's initial fitting at the beginning of his senior year, Starfleet had begun the transition to a more popular and comfortable maroon and black two piece uniform that resembled what a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman would have worn in Harry's original time. 

Currently the new uniform was only being issued to the graduates of the Academy and the various enlisted fleet training schools. Starfleet was hoping to have the entire fleet in the new uniforms by the end of the year.

Once the initial speeches and acknowledgments had been completed, the keynote speaker, Admiral James Kirk, Chief of Starfleet Operations, stepped up to the podium and looked over the crowd. 

"Graduates, Honored Guests, and Family members, I ask you now for a moment of silence in memory of all who came before us. Without them, and their actions, we would not be here today." 

Harry bowed his head and thought about what he would say if everyone that he had known back in the twentieth century could see him now. _"Hey, everyone up there in your next great adventure, I made it. Thanks to all of you and what you taught me, I've made it this far. I often wondered if I would live to see my eighteenth birthday, but now I've got no plans to see any of you for a very long time. Believe it or not, I'm getting married next week, and my future wife would be pissed if I went and got myself killed. I'd never hear the end of it. I'm doing my best to live my life like everyone would have wanted me to, and I hope that you'll be proud of me. I miss you all."_

Admiral Kirk cleared his throat after a minute and continued. "Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, members of all races present and remote, thank you for being here today. Thanks to your efforts and support, in a few minutes the cadets in front of you will be granted a title that they have earned: the title of Starfleet Officer. This is a title which you ensured that they will be able to shoulder proudly. Cadets, when today's ceremony is complete, if at all possible, let your families know how much you love them and thank them for what they did to help get you to where you are today."

The Admiral paused and took a sip of water from a glass before continuing. "Four years ago, these young people in front of you arrived here as frightened children, thinking that they knew what they were getting into and putting on a brave face. I can assure you that any notions of glory on day one or becoming the best without putting in the effort were blown away within thirty seconds of their arrival. I should know; I was there in their shoes…well, too many years ago to think about. In the four years that they have been here, they have had to grow into the men and women that they are today. During their time here they have studied things that they had no idea existed, played hard, gotten in trouble and faced the consequences, and taken responsibility for their actions. Some cadets went through with little fuss, while others rose to the challenges that faced them and performed better than many of their active-duty counterparts would have in the same situations, and probably better than their older stepbrother of an Admiral…Yes, Harry, I'm talking about you." 

Harry blushed at the compliment. Admiral Kirk was referring to an incident that occurred during Harry's Cadet Cruise where the transport he was assigned to had blown a Helium seal and was stranded. It had later been learned that the KethKin-class tug had been the victim of sabotage. While Vaughn and Stendec had been assisting with the tricky repair in engineering, the bridge crew had detected that an Orion Blockade Runner was fast approaching. Harry had commandeered an experimental Hawk-class fighter that was being transported in one of the cargo pods to Starfleet R&D from the Andorian shipyards for field trials. Harry had managed to keep the pirates at bay until reinforcements arrived. Somehow during the fight with the Blockade Runner, He had managed to record a transmission from the runner to the transport which allowed the crew to catch the saboteur. Harry never really knew if turning on the test equipment that was installed aboard had been the key to catching the traitor or not, but he did get a commendation for his actions and thorough ass-chewing for taking an untried experimental ship into combat. 

Once the crowd's twitters of amusement had settled down, Kirk resumed. "Now they are stepping into the world prepared to face the challenges of life to the best of their abilities. Whether they decide to stay in Starfleet for their entire careers, or pursue other avenues in life once their initial commitment is fulfilled, they can look back at their time here as some of the best in their lives."

Kirk paused and looked out over the sea of graduates before continuing. "Knowing full well how, when I was a cadet, I hated long winded speeches, I'll try to finish this up so you can go on to your families that are waiting patiently for you and whatever celebrations you may have planned. Recently, Starfleet went through a nasty scandal that reverberated throughout the fleet. Unfortunately, Rittenhouse's conspiracy reached down into your classmates and, as you are aware, those involved are no longer among you. Some of them were seemingly the best and brightest of your class. You, the graduates that are sitting here today, were not involved. You all chose to do the right thing and think. Those that felt and acted with the other conspirators paid the price for their folly. They forgot that there is one cardinal rule as a member of Starfleet that is above all others. Some of you may be thinking that it is the Prime Directive: do not interfere with less advanced civilizations. That rule is one of the top ones, but it is not what I'm referring to today. What I am talking about is what they forgot. You remembered that a Starfleet officer ultimately has to answer to an authority higher than the Admiralty or the President. In the end, your highest duty is to the citizens of the Federation. The conspirators forgot that, as Starfleet officers, they do the bidding of the government that the citizens elected, not the other way around. Someday, one of you may be standing here addressing a graduating class. When that day comes, let them know that during your career, you made the hard decisions and did the right thing, knowing that if you were wrong, you would be facing the consequences of your actions regardless of what they may be. That's what I am doing now. Cadets -- no, Officers -- in my career, I have had to make many decisions. Some were good decisions, and some bad. In each case, when I made that choice, I had every reason to believe that my ultimate boss, the citizens of the Federation, would support my decision. If I was wrong, I would pay the consequences. I ask you now to do the same thing. 

"Well, enough of my ramblings, it's time to move on and start your lives. Congratulations, Class of 2273." 

Kirk stepped away from the podium and off to the side. He would be shaking the hand of every graduate after they received their diploma. 

The Commandant of the Academy started calling off the names of the graduating cadets and made announcements if any special awards were earned by the graduate in question. When Harry's name was called, the Commandant announced that Harry was the winner of the Yeager-Alrheem flight excellence trophy. Harry grinned as he accepted his diploma and moved to the end of the stage. Admiral Kirk stood there and pulled Harry close. "Good job, Harry. I'll be there on Saturday; Mom would have my head if I don't show." 

Harry just smiled and said, "Good thing too. Hui would kill me, and we both need to talk to you afterwards... as officers, not family." 

Kirk frowned slightly, curious, but just nodded and let Harry go. Ensign Harry Potter moved off the stage and back to his seat, now a Commissioned Officer of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets.


	13. Wedding Bells

The Wizard on the Edge of Forever

A Harry Potter/Star Trek Fan Fic.  
By: RPNIELSEN

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 13: Wedding Bells

 

The days following graduation had been a whirlwind. Not that there was much for Harry to do; most of the plans for the wedding and reception were being handled by Mickey and all of Hui's girlfriends. All Harry had to do for that was just say, "Yes dear," and Hui was happy. 

He had taken it upon himself to handle the honeymoon arrangements. Most of their time away was going to be spent on the island of Jamaica, but they were going to spend the weekend before reporting back in to Starfleet in England, where Harry planned to show his wife some of the places he had previously visited around London. Hui had expressed an interest in seeing England and the land of her seven-times great-grandmother ever since she'd read the letters that were enclosed in her family Grimoire. Harry knew that they could get out of there with little trouble if necessary, so he didn't feel like it was going to be anything really dangerous, just the wards making them feel off a bit. Hui had agreed to this and felt like it would be fun. 

One other thing that they had planned to do during the reception was to let Jim Kirk in on the secret of the Wizarding world, since he was family. The two of them had talked it over with several of the patrons at her grandfather's magical bar. Mickey, since he was the closest thing to a mayor or governmental representative for wizardkind around, agreed it was a good idea. The Statute of Secrecy had long since lost much of its urgency, since there wasn't really a separate wizarding society to protect any longer. 

Mickey had also suggested that they bring it to Kirk's attention officially, as Starfleet officers rather than as family. This was not because he wanted any witch hunts or persecution but more for the security of all concerned. The Federation included members who could read minds or who were completely incorporeal, and Starfleet had dealt with even stranger and more powerful beings. Magic, as humanity's wizards practiced it, would no longer evoke fear as it had in past centuries. Mickey felt that if Starfleet were to run across any nutjob wizards or witches out there, they had better be aware of what they might have to deal with. 

Harry hadn't really agreed with this but came around when Mickey pointed out that while Harry might be the only one that could destroy Voldemort, assuming he was still alive, Starfleet had more than enough resources to help him do the job. 

Harry sat back in the recliner he had placed in the room he used above Mickey's bar. It was the night before his wedding and he was trying to calm his nerves a bit with some light reading. He had tuned into a local entertainment station and was listening to some light jazz while reading a fictionalized account of the hunt for the German battleship, Bismarck. All in all he found the book a barely recognizable account of what had happened, but it was a fun read. 

A knock on the door drew his attention from the book and he went to open it. Standing there was Stendec, impeccably dressed in Vulcan clothing. He gave Harry a look that, to almost anyone else, would have very passive, but to Harry, who had learned to read the Vulcan's subtle expressions, it screamed 'What the hell are you doing?'

"Stendec, what are you doing here? I'd thought you would be out at Houdini's or over at Hill's listening to the new crop of wannabes." Harry asked in confusion. Those two places were Stendec's favorite haunts on Friday nights if he wasn't studying.

"Harry, it has come to my attention that you are not following tradition. Are you not supposed to be out this evening celebrating your upcoming nuptials?" asked Stendec mildly. 

"Celebrating my up…Oh, a bachelor party. Honestly, I didn't even think about having one. Besides, I've heard about what goes on at one of those things. Hui would kill me if she ever found out," Harry said. The idea of a bachelor party really hadn't occurred to him. 

"I see. And where are your bride-to-be and her compatriots, including Tara?" Stendec asked in the same mild tone of voice. 

"Well, I think they were going out to have some sort of congrat…Oh, bachelorette party, right. Wait a sec, Tara's with them? You know what she's liable to have them doing, don't you?" stated Harry, a bit of concern in his voice. Tara Vought was a bit of a wild card and as emotional as they came. Somehow, though, the mellow Vulcan farmer's son and the hyperactive coal miner's daughter just seemed to fit together. 

"I am aware of the possibility that she might have them try some things that are…out of character," said Stendec in a tone that said he knew damn well what his spitfire of a girlfriend would be up to. 

"Oooookaayyy… So why are you here then? Going to get me out and celebrate for a bit?" asked Harry. He was beginning to get suspicious of his Vulcan friends motives. 

"In a manner of speaking. Gentlemen---get him." At this final statement, the remaining males from Harry's Academy squad, plus the now eighteen-year-old Peter Kirk, charged out of the shadows where they had been hiding, rushed into the room and pulled Harry out for his impromptu bachelor party. 

 

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"Where is he? The wedding is in an hour and no one's seen him!" exclaimed a panicking Hui. This was her day and while it wasn't the massive world event that she had thought about on occasion when she was little, it was her wedding and the groom was missing. 

"Hui, it's gonna be okay. Russ and Stendec are with him. They're probably just making sure he looks his best. This is Harry we're talking about. He'll be there," said Tara. 

Hui's best friend from childhood, Gayle, looked at her. "Hui, don't worry, everything will be fine, you'll see." 

There was a knock on the door. "Come in, unless you're Harry, then stay out!" yelled out Tara.

Stendec entered and said, "Harry is here now and patiently waiting for you to enter the chapel." 

"'Bout damned time. What the Hell did y'all do to him to make him almost miss his wedding?" asked Tara, her finger waving in Stendec's direction. 

"Nothing too egregious, I assure you. We just had a bit of an issue procuring a cutting torch this early in the morning," said Stendec mildly, though if one looked closely there was a bit of a greenish flush to his face.

"A cuttin…Ya know what, never mind, I don't want to know right now," stated Tara. She'd get the story later, after the wedding was finished and done. Hui just at back and breathed a sigh of relief. Harry was here and it was time for her to get married. 

 

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"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. Harry James and Mrs. Hui Ingrid Potter!" sang out the academy chaplain. 

Harry and Hui faced the gathering in the small side chapel. On one side were seated the combined Kwok and Johansson families, and on the other were the Dursley and Kirk families, plus eight nervous new ensigns seated next to Admiral Kirk and his guest Admiral Lori Cienna. 

The newlyweds walked down the aisle right after the other members of their Squad had left the chapel. The eight ensigns formed an arch of swords that Harry and Hui walked under, with Ensign Melendres deliberately slapping the flat of his sword on Hui's butt as she passed by, a tradition meant to ensure that the couple would have lots of children. The reception was being held at the Jade Dragon; Mickey had taken down the notice-me-not charms for the day so that everyone could find their way there with no problems. 

The reception went well and the various toasts and stories served to both embarrass the newlyweds and enlighten the families to each other and their new members. Of particular humor was Winona's story of Harry getting busted doing 150kph in a 50kph zone. The officer was the same one that had nailed young Jimmy Kirk right before he had wrecked the corvette roughly twenty years earlier. He had also caught Jim's older brother five years before that. The officer had called Winona and had asked if all the Kirk boys were hardwired to go lightspeed in 50kph zones and if he should just write out the ticket for Peter now. 

Mickey's story of a five-year-old Hui's first attempt at cooking brought howls of laughter, mainly due to Mickey's style of story telling. The idea of a five-year-old cooking fried chicken in an old-fashioned microwave for twenty minutes (instead of the conventional oven the instructions called for) wasn't new, but when Mickey told it, you almost felt like you were there watching the poultry petrify. 

About an hour or so before it was time to leave for their honeymoon, Harry and Hui got the two Admirals' attention and took them to a side room for their discussion. 

"Admiral Kirk, Admiral Cienna, first of all, thank you for setting our assignments so that we can serve together as best a possible. We both realize that it's not anything personal that you did, but your offices' efforts and regulations. Even so, we both wanted to thank you personally," said Harry while Hui looked on and nodded in full agreement. 

Both Admirals nodded politely. Kirk narrowed his eyes and asked, "Alright, Ensigns, What's up? I know you wouldn't be dragging us off for a private meeting unless you had a very good reason---especially on your wedding day."

Harry and Hui both nodded and Hui said "I'll go get the proof while you prep them."

Hui left the room to gather up what she wanted. As soon as the door was closed, Harry began. 

"Admiral Kirk, does Admiral Cienna have the clearance to know the full extent of my history, including my rescue and the following investigations?"

Kirk blinked and a look of surprise crossed his face. It was obvious that whatever he had thought that Harry was going to say, that wasn't it. 

"In regards to the rescue itself, no. However as head of the Personnel, she has the clearance in regards to your 'talents'."

Harry nodded and continued. "Admiral Kirk…'Uncle' Jim, I need to apologize to you. I wasn't entirely truthful when you found me. While I still have no real idea of how I got out there, what I'm referring to is my claiming to be the only one that had my 'talents'. At the time I was working under a set of strict secrecy laws, which I have since learned are no longer enforced."

Admiral Kirk looked at Harry intently for a moment. "Apology accepted. I can understand why you did what you did. Honestly, if I had been in the same situation, I'd have probably done the same thing."

Admiral Cienna spoke up, slightly confused by the exchange. "Ensign, you know I'm in charge of Personnel. I'm not sure what this has to do with my office."

"Admiral, what we're about to tell you has quite a bit to do with your office. Honestly, I wish that someone from Intel was here, too. They need to know this information as well," said Harry seriously. 

This statement caused both flag officers to sit down. Whatever the Potters were going to reveal, they fully believed and were very serious about. 

Hui knocked on the door and asked, "Is it okay to come in yet?" 

Harry opened the door and let her in. Hui had her and Harry's wands, the Lovegood Grimoire, and a blank, real paper book. 

Harry handed the both wands to the seated admirals. "Feel free to examine them but please be careful; they are both over three hundred years old."

Kirk immediately recognized Harry's wand, but was surprised to see a second wand that, while visually similar, had a few obvious differences. 

"Admiral Cienna, Admiral Kirk is aware of a highly edited version of what you're going to learn, but I assure you that this is the truth as we know it, and you will be seeing a practical demonstration. Let me ask you something: do you believe in magic?" asked Hui in an extremely serious tone. 

With this question, Harry and Hui began their story. Interlaced within, they gave practical demonstrations. Hui performed low-end first-year spells, while Harry gave more advanced demonstrations in disciplines that had all but died out, such as transfiguration. Harry also showed off his patronus, Prongs, who when conjured seemed to prance more like a showhorse than a stag. 

Hui had just finished making a copy of the Grimoire as a show of good faith to Starfleet and as a sort of 'welcome to the family' gift for Kirk when Admiral Kirk's Communicator went off. 

Harry and Hui stepped out of the room to let Kirk take the call. A few moments later, both Admirals came out, talking to each other. "Lori, you go make the arrangements and I'll go let Nogura in on this when I see him in a few." 

"Got it, Jim. I'll see you on the Enterprise in a couple of hours," Admiral Cienna replied. She gave Kirk a quick kiss and rushed off. Whatever that call had been about must have been pretty important to get an admiral to move that fast. 

"Harry, Hui. Thanks for letting us in on this. I agree this is very important. I have some new orders for you. As soon as you're back from your honeymoon, Harry, you're assigned to my office. I'm going to need to know as much as possible and so is the Admiralty. Your duties will be to prepare a full briefing on the wizarding world. You'll be expanding upon what you did here today. You'll be in the Flight Operations class in September, not the one you were originally slotted for. This information overrides that set of orders. 

"Hui, you're going to be off at medical school at Stanford in September as originally planned. In the meantime, instead of medical admin duties, you're going to be helping Harry with his briefing and assigned to Dr. Lifferth. I need you to work with Lifferth in designing a standard set of testing protocols to determine magical strength and capabilities. In addition, you're going to undergo the same set of tests that Harry did when we found him. Having a second baseline to work from is only going to help. There won't be any invasive procedures; I'm not going to have my sister-in-law carved up like a side of beef. Anyway, I need to get going and Harry, bring that copy of the book with you when you report in. Congratulations and enjoy your honeymoon." 

"Yes sir, and thank you for listening." said Harry. 

Admiral Kirk left the bar in a hurry, just stopping long enough to say goodbye to Winona, Peter, and Mickey. 

A few minutes after Jim had left to deal with whatever had come up, Mickey, Winona and Werner Dursley came up to Harry. Hui was upstairs getting changed from her wedding dress to the causal wear that they would be wearing on the trip. 

"I take it that they didn't freak out about what you told them," said Mickey. 

"Nope, got my orders changed because of it though. So did Hui. I'm not really sure how far we can go with what we know. I don't want to cause anyone any trouble." said Harry. He was looking forward to the work involved as it might eventually even help out the last of the wizarding world, but didn't want to frighten anyone with his abilities and the knowledge that there were more like him in the universe. The last thing that he wanted to do was to be the cause of a galactic witch hunt. 

"Harry, don't worry about it. Now that Jimmy understands better, he may still be a bit uneasy, but he's not about to let anything bad happen. He'll probably be on you a little more than normal for someone in his office, but that's only because of his job. You've given him a shot at developing a new asset. He's going to be a bit intense about it until he realizes that this is a long term project that's going to outlive him," said Winona, confident in her knowledge of her second son's personality.

Harry nodded but still had his doubts. 

Werner, a big man who vaguely resembled Vernon and was a Chicago SWAT team leader, sized up Harry for a moment. "Harry, Grandad made sure I got all the family papers when he passed on. I went and read some of Vernon's diaries. I have no idea of why he hated you so much, but what he wrote down gave me a pretty good idea of what you're capable of. Look, I'm a cop; it's my job to figure people out. Whatever special abilities and talents that you have that rubbed them raw, aren't who you really are. Now I don't know what you told your boss there, but just be yourself and don't worry about it. Just do your job and get them to understand whatever it is you need to tell them. Sure you may piss them off, but in the long run, you'll be a better man and officer for it."

Harry was still a little unsure about what they had done but knew that the cat was out of the bag and there was no turning back.

Hui spotted Harry and dragged him off. They made their rounds of goodbyes and quietly left the festivities for a week in Jamaica and a quick tour of London.

 

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The Potters stayed at the Goldeneye resort during their stay in Jamaica. Somehow they had lucked out and gotten the Ian Fleming bungalow. The bungalow was one the site of the original one that Ian had built over three hundred years ago. While it had been rebuilt several times over the centuries, the owners had always used as much of the original as possible in the reconstruction and kept to the original plans as closely as they could. Hui was a fan of the old James Bond films and finding out that they had Ian's old cottage for the week just made her day. 

Around 7am, the morning after they arrived, the comm unit started clamoring for their attention. 

"Good lord, who the hell is calling us at this hour and on our honeymoon no less?" a very sleepy Hui asked, more to herself than anything else. 

"Unggh, I don't know but I'll get it. Just stay put, hon," said an equally sleepy Harry. 

Harry got out of bed and stumbled over to the small comm unit, leaving a very naked Hui looking for the sheets that had been tossed off the bed sometime during the night. Harry could have channeled the comm to the large screen viewer on the wall, however that would have give the caller a full view of everyone and everything in the bedroom. Harry was awake enough to remember that and had no desire to share his wife, or himself for that matter, in all their glory. The small unit's field of view only allowed for head and shoulders viewing with a small hint of the background but that's all. 

Harry activated the unit and as soon as the green light indicating the call was connected lit up, he said in a sleepy and annoyed voice, "Potter here."

Tara and Stendec's faces appeared in the small viewing screen. "Harry, get your hands off her! She's a married woman!" Tara's overly cheery voice yelled out. 

Stendec raised one eyebrow as if he was surprised by the sight of a disheveled Harry on the screen. "Yes Harry, from what I understand, her husband is a jealous man and he might do something…rash when he finds out."

Harry blinked a few times and then shook his head. "Do you two know what time it is?"

Hui piped up from the background "Very funny, you two. Unless you want to see exactly how I'm going to make my husband jealous, we'll talk to you when we get back."

Tara started giggling like mad while Stendec's only reaction was his other eyebrow elevating giving him as slightly gobsmacked look. With that, the two practical jokers signed off.

Harry turned around to face the bed. Whatever comment he had died on his lips as Hui was reclining against the headboard, still uncovered and a sultry look on her face. Harry needed no further encouragement and stalked towards her.

 

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The time that the two of them spent on Jamaica was thoroughly enjoyed. They saw many sights and completely enjoyed just being two newlyweds with no worries. If they were to be asked later about the trip, both would admit to loving every minute of it, though privately they would say that the had scared off lots of fish and birds with their more 'vigorous' activities.

Very early on the Saturday of their trip, they checked out of the resort and said goodbye to Jamaica, hopefully not for the last time. Taking the transporter to London, they arrived when it was still early.

As Harry had expected, the country-wide ward affected them as soon as they materialized on the pads. Once they had cleared the receiving area and checked into their hotel for the weekend, they went to a small pub for breakfast. Once their meal had arrived and the waitress had moved off, they began to talk about this piece of the trip. 

"Damn, you weren't kidding about that ward. I really feel like I need to get my business done and leave," said Hui, giving voice to Harry's own initial description of this ward. 

"Yeah, I know. As far as I know, it's actually harmless but I can see why wizards and witches would feel like Great Britain is cursed. That ward just makes you feel off."

"So what should we do today? I'm just happy to be in great-grandma's homeland. I would love to see everything, but you're the expert," said Hui. While the ward bothered her a bit, she was much more interested in seeing the city and maybe some of the areas where Harry had spent his early years. 

Harry thought about it for a minute. "Well, I think the best thing to do is see the park where Diagon Alley was first. Least I can do is try and give you an imaginary tour of the Alley. Three hundred years ago, you'd have gone there for pretty much everything magic related. We can move on to the Kings Cross museum when it opens in a few hours, so you can get an idea of what the Hogwarts Express looked like. After that, a tour of London and the area I lived when I was little."

"Sounds good to me. Shall we?" Hui said standing up and holding out her arm for Harry to take. 

"Of course. Let's be off Mrs. Potter," he replied taking her arm in his.

Getting to the park was easy enough. Harry began his walking tour by explaining that where the gate was, this was the rough entrance to the Alley itself when you entered it from the Leaky Cauldron. He cautioned her that he was going to be off a bit, since he'd only been here a few times and it had been years ago even from his own perspective, but it was a general approximation. Going through the park he gave Hui descriptions of what shops were where and what you could find in them. 

Hui had expressed interest in several with the apothecary, Flourish and Blotts, and Ollivander's being the most intriguing to her. She expressed her opinion that if for nothing else, Ollivander's was the place she wished she could go, above all others, just so she could have her own wand. 

Approaching the far end of the park, Harry explained that the marble boulders were all that remained above ground of Gringotts. As far as he knew, everything would still be intact a few hundred feet down, but based on the descriptions that the patrons of Mickey's bar had given him over the years, anything close to the surface would have been destroyed by the blasts and ensuing fires.

Harry and Hui stopped to look at the plaque that the Order had placed on one of the stones. "Harry, what was that piece that grandma wrote in her letter?" 

Harry thought about the letter from Luna for a moment and looked at the plaque intently. Suddenly, two parts of what she was talking about made sense "Son of a bitch, this is what she was talking about. She said something about childhood protections, a plaque and the bumblebee's wings. This is the plaque. It has to be. The Order put it here and she probably became a member after I vanished." 

Harry tapped the stylized engraving of a phoenix on the plaque. "That's a phoenix -- well, a representation of one, anyway. Dumbledore had one as a companion when I was back in the twentieth, and he did occasionally use it as a method of fast travel. But I still don't get what the hell she was talking about with the childhood protections. They were blood wards and only worked around the house where my relatives lived. Surrey's quite a ways from here, and the house certainly isn't there anymore."

Hui got very quiet and her face took on an expression that Harry recognized from the Academy. She got that look when she was on the verge of figuring out a question from her classes. Harry didn't say anything as he didn't want to break her concentration. 

"What type of wards did you say they were again?" she asked.

"Blood wards. Why?" 

"Ok Hon, this is what I'm thinking. She wasn't talking about the wards themselves but what they were keyed to. Blood, specifically your blood. Do you remember exactly what she said?" asked Hui. 

"Not off the top of my head, let me pull it up," Harry pulled his ever present PADD from its holster on his hip. It took a moment for him to pull up the file. Looking at the passage he said "To get to the serpent's son, remember your childhood protection, find the plaque and touch the Bumblebee's wings. He'll get you to the arena. You can trust this with your life, because the fanged one helped."

"Harry, I want to see what happens when you put your blood on that plaque. Before we try it we need our gear. No way in hell are we going to take a chance of going into combat unarmed or unprepared." said Hui. The conviction in her voice stalled any objections that Harry might have had. She really wanted this mystery solved.

The two of them returned to their hotel where they gathered up Hui's first aid bag and retrieved a pair of hold out phasers that Admiral Kirk had made them take with them, from the hotel safe. As Admiral Kirk was Chief of Starfleet Operations, there was a chance that some unsavory types might try to get to him through Harry and Hui. Kirk had wanted them to have some sort of protection just in case. 

As they returned to the park, Harry asked, "Are you sure you want to try this now? We can wait till we have backup."

Hui nodded and pulled a laser scalpel from her aid bag. "Harry, I'm going to put a shallow cut on your left palm. Touch that Phoenix on the plaque and let's see what happens." 

Harry nodded and Hui cut his palm with the scalpel. Just before he put his palm on the Phoenix engraved on the plaque, he hesitated. His concern was for his wife, he didn't want her hurt or killed. He wasn't concerned about himself, but he was afraid for her. Harry looked at Hui one last time and she nodded. Shrugging, he put his palm on the Phoenix. 

For a few seconds nothing happened…


	14. Return to Hogwarts

The Wizard on the Edge of Forever

A Harry Potter/Star Trek Fan Fic.  
By: RPNIELSEN

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 14: Return to Hogwarts

For a few seconds nothing happened, then there was a flash of white flame and Fawkes floated down to perch on the boulder.

Harry fell back on the grass in shock. "Fawkes! What…How…Where did you come from?"

Hui, who had drawn her phaser at the burst of flame, relaxed at Harry's reaction. "I take it you know this bird, hon?" 

Harry nodded while still looking at the phoenix. 

Fawkes had been looking at Harry, almost as if he was not quite sure that the grown man seated on the ground in front of him was the same skinny boy that Harry had been at Hogwarts almost three hundred years ago. 

The phoenix suddenly shot into the sky, singing at the top of his lungs. After doing several dives and spins, Fawkes landed by Harry and began head butting his left hand. 

Harry turned his hand over in response to Fawkes' head butt. As soon as Harry had turned his hand over, Fawkes cried several tears into the cut on Harry's palm, healing it. 

Harry looked at the swan sized bird next to him "Thank you Fawkes, How've you been doing?"

"Harry, just what is going on?" Hui asked. The interaction between her husband and the flame colored bird seemed like old friends meeting after a long time. 

"Hui, honey, this is Fawkes. He was Dumbledore's pet," said Harry introducing the bird to his wife. 

Fawkes gave Harry a look that just said 'Get it right buddy.'

Harry flinched as numerous images flooded his mind. "Whoa! That was weird. Fawkes what did you do?" 

Fawkes cocked his head to one side, and more images and feelings ran through Harry's head.

"You did what? You nut. Why did you do that?" said Harry, shaking his head ruefully. 

"Harry, just what the Hell is going on between you and that phoenix?" asked Hui. Her tone and body language showed that she was really confused about what was happening.

"Hui, Fawkes here went and agreed to be a sort of...messenger, I guess is the best way to describe it. Apparently he can talk, but it's kinda weird. I can understand him, but his method of speaking is really odd. It's mostly images and feelings, not really words but it's very clear about what he's talking about."

Fawkes looked at Hui and then back to Harry and let out a chirp. 

"Yes, she's my wife, why?" asked Harry. 

Fawkes bobbed his head and chirped again. 

Harry patted the ground and Hui sat down next to him. "Hon, Fawkes wants to hang around with us after we take care of business. I'm not sure why, but I guess he's been lonely since Dumbledore passed away. Phoenixes are creatures of good and from what I understand they don't tend to stay around people unless they like them." 

Hui looked at the bird intently for a moment and a smile broke out on her face. "Sure, why not? He's a beautiful creature."

Fawkes took a few hops over next to Hui and looked in her eyes. She gasped as a flood of images and feelings entered her mind. "WOW! You're right, that is weird, but thank you Fawkes, you're pretty special too." 

Fawkes puffed himself up for a moment then looked at the two of them expectantly. 

Hui blushed at the images the bird sent. "You're a real wise guy aren't you? We've only been married a week, of course there's no children yet."

Fawkes started prancing in front of them, spreading his tail feathers and chirping what sounded like "Anchors Away."

The two of them turned bright red and burst out laughing from the images and emotions that Fawkes was showing them.

Once they calmed down a bit, Hui asked, "Fawkes where did you get that from? 

The flame colored bird blinked twice and gave the avian equivalent of a shrug. 

Harry shook his head but had a huge smile on his face. "Albus in San Francisco back in 1968. Good lord, I had no idea."

Fawkes let loose with a few notes of song which kept the good spirits going. 

"Okay, Fawkes, we'll wait here," said Hui just before the Phoenix disappeared in a flash of flame.

Hui shook her head "That bird is a riot. He did give me a few ideas though."

"Ideas?" asked Harry curiously. 

Hui patted Harry's hand and said "You'll find out later Harry." The sparkle in her eye and devilish smile said it all.

A flash of fire announced Fawkes' return. Embraced in his talons was the Hogwarts sorting hat. 

"Put me down, you overgrown excuse for chicken flambé!" yelled out the hat.

Harry and Hui stood up and Harry took the ancient hat from Fawkes and set it on the boulder in front of them. 

"Damned bird knows I don't like traveling like that," grumbled the hat.

Harry gestured to the tattered piece of headgear. "Hon, this is the Hogwarts sorting hat. How's it been going, Hat?"

The folds that formed the sorting hat's eyes narrowed as it twisted slightly towards Harry. "I know you. You're familiar. I may have sorted one of your relatives once."

Harry shrugged and picked up the hat. "Tell you what, Hat, I'll just put you on and let you figure it out for yourself."

He placed the sorting hat on his head and no sooner had it touched him than the hat exclaimed, "POTTER! Just where the hell have you been? Do you know what sort of shitstorm you caused when you disappeared?

Harry blinked at the language, something he wouldn't have expected from such an ancient, scholarly artifact. Though, once he thought about it, having read the minds of dozens of eleven-year-olds every year for a thousand years, the hat was bound to pick up a few things. "Yeah, I know. Honestly, it was an accident. I'm back, though. Alright, I'm about three hundred years late, but I'm doing the best I can right now," replied Harry sheepishly. 

Harry took off the hat and offered it to Hui. "Hon, go ahead and put him on. Let's see what he thinks about you." Over the years that they had known each other, Harry had given to Hui a complete description of the castle and its residents as he remembered them. There had been a few discussions where they had wondered about where she would have been sorted if she had gone there.

Hui took the hat from Harry and placed it on her head.

"Hello. Who do we have here?" asked the hat.

"Hui Potter, Mr. Hat. We were curious about which house I would have been in," said Hui politely. Growing up in a mostly Chinese magical neighborhood, she'd learned that should she ever come across any magical beings or artifacts, she always needed to be polite. According to the legends that she had heard as a child, you never knew who or what might be connected to them and become offended if you weren't polite.

"My, you're a breath of fresh air. Even after two hundred years, I remember how obnoxious some of those toerags were. Now, where would I put you.... Hmmm…excellent mind and very brave." The hat turned on Hui's head to face Harry. "Potter, you know, your better half here reminds me of your old pal the walking encyclopedia. So the best fit for your wife would have been Gryffindor, though I might have let her go to Ravenclaw if she'd asked for that instead."

As soon as the hat made his announcement, Fawkes started doing a dance as if to say 'Ohh yeah!' while a large grin appeared on Harry's face. 

Harry took the sorting hat off Hui's head and placed it on the boulder in front of them as Fawkes finished his impromptu dance. 

"Thank you Mr. Hat…" began Hui.

"Please, enough with the Mr. Hat. Call me Daniel. It's what the founders called me," said 'Daniel' the sorting hat. 

"Okay, Daniel, after I met Harry and heard his stories about Hogwarts, I was curious to which house I would have been sorted into. Thank you for letting me know," said Hui sincerely. 

Daniel bent slightly as if taking a bow. "Not a problem. Now, we need to talk. I've got information for you, Potter, and a care package. Sit down and let's chat."

The two of them sat back down and waited for Daniel to begin. 

"First of all, tell me what you know so I'll what to skip," asked Daniel. 

Harry thought for a moment. "I generally know what happened up till the muggles started blowing up half the planet as well as the general aftermath. What I don't know is why no one can get into Hogwarts and what happened to Voldemort."

"Hmm… right then. I don't have to explain how things went to hell then, and I don't need to tell you the results. Mrs. Potter, can I assume that you filled him in on that stuff?" asked Daniel. 

"That's correct, Daniel. Most things we're pretty clear on, but Hogwarts and Voldemort, no clue. What we do know is that about a month after the bombs fell, every witch and wizard that was in England, left. As far as we know, any witch or wizard born since leaves as soon as possible. Right now, both of us can feel a ward that's making us feel uneasy. We think it's this ward that's keeping witches and wizards from staying." explained Hui. 

"Excellent, that makes things much easier," exclaimed Daniel. "Now keep in mind, I did not witness the destruction from the Muggle bombs. I was still stored in the Headmaster's office at the time. About a month before I was extracted, there was a day in mid-summer when almost everyone left the castle for a celebration. The only ones left behind were either children too young to go and the very sick or badly injured. No one who left came back. 

"I later found out from the Weasleys that Tom and his chief supporters were all in London, mostly in Diagon Alley, when the blasts occurred. About a month later, a spy within the Death Eater ranks reported that Voldemort had returned to Hogwarts, but was severely weakened.

"As soon as a team could be put together, what was left of the Order and its supporters, including Dumbledore and the curse-breaker Weasley, hit the castle and got the few remaining kids and prisoners out. They got me and a few other artifacts before Dumbledore took control of the wards and charms on the castle and did…something to them. Even Weasley wasn't ever quite sure what he did. The effort cost him his life though. All he said before he died was that Tom was trapped in Hogwarts and only Fawkes could get in there." Daniel seemed to bow slightly at the mention of Dumbledore's passing, almost as if he was saying a prayer for the headmaster's soul. 

Harry, too, bowed his head in remembrance of Dumbledore and his ultimate sacrifice to contain Voldemort. After a moment Harry asked, "So Tom's still alive and trapped in Hogwarts?"

"As far as I know, he is. Dumbledore certainly believed it." stated Daniel. 

Hui had been sitting back and concentrating on the information. "Harry, Daniel, assuming that Tom's still alive, we're looking at either an incredibly powerful nightmare come to life or a broken wretch of--I don't know, something that should have been killed with the rest of its followers."

Daniel sort of nodded and Harry said "That's about the size of it. I'm betting on the latter case, since Daniel didn't see or hear of anyone who left coming back. If Tom was badly hurt by the blasts and radiation, I can see it taking him a month just to get to the grounds of the castle, let alone to anyplace inside, even with magic. Now Daniel, you mentioned a care package?"

"Ahh yes, I'm glad that you remembered that. Hang on a second." Daniel scrunched himself up and for all the world liked like he was straining to go to the bathroom. The sight brought a smirk to the honeymooners' faces. 

Then the hat relaxed and said. "Potter, take this thing out of me if you don't mind." 

Harry stood up and picked up the hat. As he did so, the bottom of a rectangular box appeared. Hui got up and grabbed the edge of the box. Harry kept moving the hat backwards from the box edge and together they extracted a box that was roughly six feet long and about a foot thick from Daniel 

"Thank you, that thing was uncomfortable. The Weasleys asked me to get that to you." said Daniel

Harry and Hui looked at the box. While it looked brand new, it had a certain shabbiness to it. Harry, realizing where they were, looked at Fawkes who was quietly sitting on the grass preening himself, and then to the sorting hat. "Guys, I don't think opening that box here would be a good idea. It was the Weasleys that got you to keep an eye on that thing Daniel. Who knows what's actually inside? We're not that far from the heart of London, here; anyone could happen by. I don't want the contents to hurt or frighten anyone just in case they booby trapped it. Fawkes, can you take us somewhere close to Hogwarts, but out of sight? Just outside the wards would be fine." 

As Hui began gathering up their stuff, she asked, "Why near Hogwarts? Why not back at the hotel or some other place?"

Harry, who was tying up some bandages out of Hui's aid bag to make a makeshift shoulder strap for the box, replied, "That's the only place that I can think of where there will be absolutely no chance of this thing hurting anyone but the person who opens it. I remember the Weasleys, every last one of them could be some of the most devious people you could ever meet, and they lived through a war for decades after I left. Most of them were the kind of person that would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it but if you pissed them off or somehow got on their bad side you were in for a world of hurt. I wouldn't put it past them to rig this box up with some sort of trap, just in case, especially if the twins were involved."

Slinging the makeshift strap over his shoulder Harry picked up Daniel and held out his other hand to Hui. "Just grab onto Fawkes tail feathers and he'll take us there."

Hui grasped Fawkes' tail feathers and they disappeared in a flash of flame. 

 

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They arrived in a small clearing just outside the wards with a thump. "Okay, Daniel, I can see why you don't like that, the landing's a bit rough," said Harry. 

Hui looked at Harry like he was nuts. "I don't know, it seemed perfectly fine to me. Fawkes is a wonderful transporter in my opinion." 

The scarlet bird puffed up and gave the sorting hat a look that just said 'I told you so'.

Harry unslung the box from his shoulder and laid it on the ground. He motioned for everyone to move back. Hui picked up Daniel and moved away from Harry and the box. Fawkes moved over next to Hui and watched intently. Harry undid the wrapping on the box and the string holding the lid on underneath. He carefully lifted the lid from the box and nothing happened. Harry let out a sigh of relief and motioned Hui to come over and take a look. She came over and saw that the box appeared to be packed full of books and items that the twins probably had a hand in making. Harry picked up two of the three things that caught his eye immediately, two separate parchment envelopes. One of the envelopes had printed on it in lurid green letters, Read Me First. He spotted what appeared to be his invisibility cloak folded neatly within the box but it could wait. 

Opening the first envelope, he extracted a letter that appeared to be several pages in length. It actually turned out to be two different letters, one from Bill and the other from the twins. Bill's letter explained that the books in the box were Dumbledore's notes regarding the Horcruxes and what the old wizard had theorized that Tom had done to himself since being re-embodied. Bill had been good enough to include his notes on what Dumbledore had done to the wards and charms on Hogwarts. He explained that Dumbledore had somehow turned them inside out and keyed them to Voldemort's magical core, trapping him in the castle. The calculations indicated Voldemort should be trapped within Hogwarts forever with no magic, living his eternal life with the same magical abilities as a squib at best, but Bill said that something didn't feel right about them. He'd apparently checked them over a few hundred times and everything looked ok, but he called it a "gut feeling" that they were off somehow. He also mentioned getting a glimpse of Voldemort during the rescue mission into Hogwarts, before Dumbledore modified the wards. It had, Bill said, been like seeing an ancient mummy come to life in one of his Egyptian tomb assignments. Voldemort had been little more than a charred, supporating husk. Bill had started to fire a spell, to try and finish the bastard off, but Dumbledore stopped him. Killing the body, he'd said, would only release Voldemort's spirit to wander again, and allow him to possess another person like Quirrell someday. He still had at least two Horcruxes that hadn't been found.

To finish off the letter, Bill also let them know that he had been the one to set up the plaque to signal Fawkes.

The twin's letter was quite funny as it was written in the "twin speak" that they had perfected. The general gist of it were descriptions of all the "gifts" that they had included in the box, many of which were their own inventions, including classic items like the Extendable Ears. There was also a family update for their, as they put it, "little brother from another mother," listing the fates of those siblings and parents who had passed on, plus the marriages, children, and grandchildren of those still living. Enclosed in the folds of their letter were two additional items. One was a wizarding photo showing the surviving Weasleys at the dedication of the plaque, along with several other people including Luna and, surprisingly enough, Hermione. It was strange seeing all of them looking so much older, most of them with graying hair from the stress of a lifetime spent in the war against Voldemort. The other item was an extremely lifelike drawing of Harry and Hui holding each other in their cadet uniforms that apparently Ginny had done. From what the twins said, she had done it based on the descriptions that Luna had given of the two of them. As a final parting shot they had said that they were going to figure out a way to get to Harry's time to make sure that Luna's great granddaughter was fit enough for an honorary Weasley. 

Once their snickers had subsided, Harry picked up the other envelope. Opening it, he found a very familiar piece of blank parchment. 

"Thanks guys, this is going to help out a lot," he said more to himself than anyone in particular. 

Hui looked at the piece of parchment with some confusion. "Hon, I don't see how a blank piece of paper is going to help us out."

Several years earlier, Harry had crafted an ankle holster for his wand. He had done the same for Hui and whenever possible, both of them now kept their wands strapped to their lower legs, just in case. Hui was just glad the current uniforms allowed her to carry it concealed that way, and thanked her lucky stars that the old uniforms from the last decade, with the mini-skirt that had been proposed by a very strange admiral as a way to allow her fellow Starfleet officers to "express their femininity," had finally been scrapped before she joined. Even the horrid, gray, robe-like uniforms would have been a vast improvement.

Harry drew his wand from the holster and gave Hui a warning "Hon, I'm going to activate this. Last time I tried any active magic here, that ward we've been feeling went berserk. It won't actually do anything to hurt us, but don't be surprised if you get a sudden urge to flee. Just sit tight and it will calm down in a few minutes."

Harry tapped his wand to the parchment and spoke the activation phrase, "I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The ward didn't react to the map activating, but Hui was surprised when the blank sheet filled with moving lines which drew out a map of the castle floorplan. 

Harry just smiled as he looked at the map. "Hmmm…there's the snake-faced bastard. He's in the headmaster's office."

"Harry," Hui gasped, grabbing his arm. "When I pushed you to touch your blood to the plaque, I was hoping to solve a mystery, nothing more. I don't think we need to actually take on Voldemort today." 

Harry chuckled and patted her hand comfortingly. "Don't worry, Hon, I don't plan to. We're still in the same situation that Dumbledore and Bill were in; he still has horcruxes. That's why he's survived all this time. According to the notes, one of them may be a few hundred meters under that plaque, sealed into the Goblin tunnels. Even with modern weapons and technology, I'm not sure how we'd ever get it out. And the other might be in the castle somewhere, but they never figured out where in seven decades of searching.” 

Harry paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “We don't need to deal with Moldy-Voldy right now; he's trapped and not doing any harm to anyone for the moment. It can wait 'til I know for a fact that when I do kill him, he'll stay permanently dead. No, that's not why I was checking on where he was; I just wanted to make sure he was far enough away. Look -- Voldemort is here," he said while tapping the map where the headmaster's office was located. "And the library is here, several floors away. Hon, what I want to do is get in there and grab all the books we can carry. Much of what's holding the magical world back right now is the lack of knowledge; the Hogwarts library has everything we need to change that!" Harry tapped the other side of the map opposite from Voldemort. "I think we can get in and out without him knowing we were there." 

Hui looked at the map intently and then an evil smile came across her face. "What better way to fuck with his head than by stealing those books from under his nose. Besides, when you go after him, you're going to have magical backup, and I'm not taking no for an answer on this one buster." 

Harry saw the look on his wife's face and he knew better than to argue with her about it. 

He took the invisibility cloak for the box and held out his hand. "This is my old invisibility cloak; I used to sneak around the castle with it. If for some reason Tommy comes out of that office, we can use it to sneak past him. Bill's note said he wouldn't have any magic at all, so he shouldn't be able to hurt us. Getting in and out should be easy, but just in case, having this will only help."

Hui took Harry's hand and said, "Daniel, keep an eye on the place, we shouldn't be gone too long. Fawkes, can you take us straight to the library?" 

Fawkes waived his tail feathers and Hui once again grasped them in her free hand. With another flash of flame, they vanished.

 

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When they reappeared, the sight that greeted them dashed all of Harry's hopes. The library, once a pristine and hallowed bastion of knowledge, presided over by the meticulous Madame Pince, was a complete disaster. Many of the bookshelves had collapsed and there were piles of decaying parchment just tossed here and there. In many areas, the contents of the library appeared to have completely dissolved into lumps of gray mulch. In others, there were still shapes recognizable as books, but many appeared to have significant damage from the ravages of time and from what appeared to be infestations of various small creatures, both magical and non magical. 

"Son of a bitch," muttered Harry at the sight.

"Aiya! Huaile..." Hui exclaimed, falling back into the language of her childhood.

"Hon, just whisper in here, I don't want to take a chance on attracting Tom's attention if he comes down here," said Harry after a moment. Hui nodded and the two of them began to poke around for any salvageable books. 

During the hour or so that they surveyed the library, they were only able to find a few books that were even marginally salvageable. There was first year transfiguration text, an introductory arithmancy book, one of the seventh year potions texts and, of all things, a grumpy copy of the Monster Book of Monsters. Even several minutes of stroking the binding didn't seem to calm it. It was in the best shape of all of them, though, having been able to defend itself against many of the destructive elements and creatures that had ruined the rest of the library.

Harry had taken notice of the state of the building itself it seemed dilapidated, almost if the charms that helped protect it were failing. Many windows were broken and there appeared to be areas where standing water or snow would collect during storms. He didn't notice any missing ceiling panels, but from all indications, it appeared that the roof was leaking. This explained much of the damage the books had suffered. Harry surveyed the room once again, mourning the tragic loss of priceless knowledge.

Waiving Hui over, Harry sighed and said, "I think we've found all we can right now. I want to get a better idea of how the castle is faring. I think I know why everything is run down, but I need to get a look at some of the rest of the place. Let's not use Fawkes 'til we get to the entrance hall, unless it's necessary." Hui nodded again and let Harry lead the way; this was his turf after all. 

The little party moved as quietly through the dilapidated castle as possible. Harry noted that the hallways and rooms that he could see into appeared to be in the same general state as the library. The castle, so bright and full of life three centuries before, was now looking its age.

As they approached the entrance hall they heard a noise that put their nerves on edge. It sounded like someone shuffling along and a piece of wood striking flagstone. Ducking into an open room, Harry realized that they had neglected to check the map during their trek from the library. Hui, who had been carrying the map, opened it up and gasped. A figure labeled "T. Riddle" was only about a hundred feet away from the door. 

Pulling out the invisibility cloak, Harry covered them in it, hoping that Voldemort wouldn't be able to see them through it. Looking through a window into the hallway, they got a good look at Voldemort. It wasn't a pretty sight. All of Voldemort's exposed skin was nothing but a mass of keloid scars, and from the angle they were at they could tell he was blind due to the empty eye sockets in his head. Harry's scar began to hurt for the first time in many years and he let out a barely audible hiss in pain. 

Voldemort whirled as if he had heard a gunshot and attempted to cast a spell. The small red streak of light would have missed them by almost ten feet, even if it hadn't faded out before it reached them.

Before things could escalate any further, Fawkes flashed into existence over the Potters' heads, grabbed them by the hair and cloak and spirited them to safety, outside the wards.


	15. Your Mission should you chose to accept it

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 15: Your Mission, should you accept it. 

Arriving back in the clearing, Harry whipped the invisibility cloak off the two of them. Hui grabbed Harry and held him tight. She had seen the dragon that he'd been fighting his entire life and it frightened her. Harry just held her until she began to loosen her grip. 

Daniel, who had been observing the scene, asked, "Just what the hell happened in there?"

Harry looked at the hat as Hui loosened her grip. "We only got a couple of books, but that bastard's still alive and kicking. And he's got at least a little bit of magic left."

"So what are you going to do about it?" asked the hat. 

Harry looked at his wife who, while still pale, was now busy securing the books they had salvaged in the Weasley care package. "For the moment, nothing. Something's not right about this and we need to get out of here." The hat made a movement as if to speak again, but Harry interrupted. "Just drop it for now, Daniel" 

Daniel fell silent and Harry helped Hui finish packing up the few items that were still out. Once they were done, they grasped Fawkes's tailfeathers and Hui said "Fawkes, please take up to our hotel. Get us the hell out of here." 

 

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As soon as they left the magical interference around Hogwarts and arrived at their hotel, Harry and Hui's communicators went off. Upon answering, they were surprised and at the same time almost relieved to learn that their leave was being canceled. The two of them were to report to Starfleet Headquarters immediately, as a planetary emergency had been declared several hours before, and their orders had them assigned there. Hui quickly gave a description of their apartment above the Jade Dragon to Fawkes while Harry rapidly packed their luggage. As soon as Harry was done, Fawkes grabbed Daniel and as much luggage as he could and flamed out to the Jade Dragon. Harry and Hui rapidly checked out of the hotel and were able to get priority transport directly to Starfleet Headquarters. 

Upon arrival, Hui was assigned to the medical offices to help out, though with what, no one there had any real idea. There were no patients there, just records, a few medics and two doctors who were absolutely clueless to what was causing the frantic activity at Headquarters. 

Harry was assigned to be a runner for Admiral Kirk's office, but since Kirk was currently on the Enterprise dealing directly with the threat to Earth, Harry didn't have much to do. 

Listening to the reports coming in, Harry learned that a probe from an unknown civilization was hell-bent on getting to Earth and finding its creator, and God help anything that got in its way, such as the Epsilon 9 Communications relay station and three Klingon Battlecruisers. Harry did manage to get permission to run that information down to medical, so they might have a clue to what to prepare for should casualties come in to their offices. No sooner had he relayed that information than Earth’s entire planetary defense grid was shut down due to the probe's actions. When this happened, a controlled pandemonium broke out as people desperately tried to bring the grid back online. Harry spent several frantic hours handing tools to engineers and running orders through darkened corridors, feeling helpless.

Suddenly, almost as quickly as it started, it was over. The Grid came back up like it had never been down and the probe vanished. Harry later learned that Admiral Kirk had pulled a metaphorical rabbit out of his hat and saved the day. 

About an hour or so later, Harry and Hui were released to go home and get some sleep. Because of the chaos the probe had caused, they were told that they didn't have to be at their duty stations until noon the next day and even then it was going to be mostly clean-up from the crisis. Taking a cab, the two of them got a ride to Chinatown where they walked the rest of the way to the bar. 

Avoiding Hui's grandfather, they went directly upstairs and to their bedroom. As soon as the door closed, the stress of the last 36 hours, from the spooky halls of Hogwarts, catching sight of the magical world's most powerful and frightening boogey-man, to the long hours of helpless fear in an clinic, hit Hui like a freight train and she broke down crying in Harry's arms. 

"Dammit Harry, I'm a doctor not a Tomb Raider!" she exclaimed thorough her tears. 

Harry resisted the urge to laugh, as he had heard similar statements from Dr. McCoy when he'd been aboard the Enterprise all those years ago. 

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Harry gently said "No, you're not, not yet anyway. You're going to be a great healer though. Now, do you remember what we learned back in Psych in our second year?" 

"Everyone deals with extreme stress differently?" she replied questioningly.

"Got it in one, dear." He brought her into a strong hug. "Don't worry, it looks like your way is to work like mad through it and then break down in private. So it's probably normal. Me, I'll just be a moody cuss for a few days, maybe break a few things, but we'll be fine." 

Hui sniffed a few times and smiled. "A fine pair of heroic Starfleet officers we make." 

Harry just laughed. "You should have heard the stories Gran would tell us on how Jim used to deal with things. He's calmed down now, though. From what I've heard…" 

 

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Instead of going to sleep right away, the two had made love to each other with a desperation that was born of two people reaffirming to themselves that they were still alive despite two life threatening situations in an extremely short period of time. Shortly afterwards, the two of them fell asleep in each others arms. 

About two hours later Hui woke up covered in a cold sweat with her heart hammering in her chest like she had run a marathon. Harry snapped awake as Hui sat upright and looked around the darkened room in a panic. 

"Hon, you ok?" he asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"Yeah, just a nightmare. Must have been brought on by all the excitement," she said as she lay back down next to Harry. 

Harry wrapped an arm around her stomach, pulling her close. "What about?" 

Hui scooted her back into Harry's chest. "Don't really remember, just remember the color red," she said sleepily as she began to drift off. Hui was mostly telling the truth. All she did remember was the color red…blood red. 

 

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Harry and Hui's first official week back consisted mostly of in-processing at their respective duty stations and general busywork. That weekend the two of them went through their wedding gifts and three stood out. 

The Enterprise command staff, none of whom had been able to attend due to the rigors of getting their ship ready to be re-launched, had sent them a full dining set in a beautiful floral pattern with green accents. Captain Decker had been the one to take the time to find and get the set for the staff. Harry would have liked to have met the man and thank him personally for doing this for a total stranger. As it was, the Potters were going to leave flowers in his name at the Fleet Memorial as a thank you. 

Tara and Stendec had gotten together and gotten them a lace bedspread embroidered in various Vulcan runes and images. Hui felt it was more a work of art than an everyday household item, but they still began to use it on their bed. 

Surprisingly enough, the most unique was the gift that Werner Dursley and his family had given the newlyweds. Opening the large box, Hui had found a framed set of Chicago Police force badges dating back to when the force was first founded. The accompanying note caused them to laugh out loud when Werner pointed out that some of them were even older than Harry was. It also stated that the Potters were welcome to visit anytime and that the first round was on Werner at the bar that he and a few other officers were partners on. 

Returning to Kirk's office on Monday, Harry was pleased to find that Admiral Kirk had returned from the Enterprise shakedown cruise, which he had chosen to help complete after the V'ger crisis. Kirk took care of some minor items that needed his attention and, that afternoon, had Harry ushered into his private office for their first meeting about the revelation of the wizarding world. 

As soon as the normal protocols had been observed and Harry had delivered the copy of the Lovegood grimoire to the Admiral's hands, Kirk asked, "Ensign, given your expertise in this area, are there any threats from the magical population that I need to be aware of?"

"Admiral, that is a question that has two answers. In general, no. These days, most people with my gifts don't even know they have them. Those that do know generally don't have the skill to do much, let alone anything dangerous. I was an average student, and only completed five years out of seven at my school, but I still know many, many more spells than anyone else I've met here so far. They are more likely to be a danger to themselves if they were to consciously try a spell more complicated than making a light or levitating something. 

"That being said, sir, there is one threat out there that, on a scale of one to ten, I'd call a two at the moment." 

Harry held up his hand, forestalling the question that was forming on Kirk's lips. "Sir, allow me to explain that statement before assuming the worst." 

Kirk nodded for Harry to continue. 

"Before I got bounced through time, there was a very powerful, very evil wizard just starting his second try at taking over the wizarding world. Having talked to some magical people here, I've learned that after I left, he succeeded to a degree, taking over all of Great Britain and making inroads across Europe in the early part of the twenty-first century." Harry went on to explain their assumptions about the hidden war that had been waged during those decades, and how many of the 'terrorist' incidents in the historical record may have been magical attacks rather than mundane violence. 

"Voldemort's reign of terror was cut short by the nuclear bombings of World War III; it is probably the one and only silver lining to that horrible time," Harry explained. He went on to explain the concept of horcruxes, and how they had kept Voldemort from dying of what would otherwise have been mortal wounds. Then he told Kirk about his honeymoon visit to Hogwarts, and their discovery that Voldemort was still alive, though currently trapped inside the castle grounds by very powerful wards.

"So you're saying that this Voldemort is trapped forever in this prison of his?" asked Admiral Kirk.

"Yes sir, but I'm personally not sold on the 'forever' part. Reminds me of the Titanic being 'unsinkable', truth be told. There aren't many magical beings still around who would willingly release him, even if they knew he was in there. And if they knew and wanted to, I doubt they could get close. The method that I used to get in there would be almost impossible for anyone else to duplicate, particularly if they had less than virtuous intentions. Sir, so far those wards are holding and Voldemort isn't going anywhere, but it's my opinion that something is not quite right. The way those wards were designed, he's not supposed to have any magic, but he managed to fire a weak spell at us. There may be a flaw there, somewhere, that could spell trouble someday, but it's probably not significant, and certainly not imminent. I'm sorry Admiral, I wish I had a better answer for you," said Harry honestly. He really wanted to reassure his commanding officer that the threat was minimal. 

Kirk waived off Harry's concerns and then asked "How soon can you be ready to brief the Chiefs of Staff?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Sir, if you want me to give a briefing similar to the one you received at the reception, call it two hours from right now. Something more substantial and properly documented is going to take maybe a month, mostly due to arranging demonstrations and securing hands-on evidence. Admiral, permission to speak freely regarding this, sir?"

Kirk nodded. "Go ahead, Harry." 

Harry swallowed; he was taking a risk by being a bit familiar with Admiral Kirk, even if he was his foster brother. "'Uncle' Jim, come to dinner sometime this week. I'll introduce you to some other wizards and witches in a normal setting, as well as two magical beings that are anxious to meet you."

Jim Kirk blinked and then furrowed his brow in thought. "Would tonight be okay? I've got late meetings the rest of the week, but I'm clear tonight."

"Yes, sir. I'll have to guide you there, though, otherwise you'll never find the place, sir," replied Harry. 

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Kirk said, "Come on, it's close enough to quitting time and I'm getting hungry." 

With that the two of them left the inner office and headed out to dinner at Mickey's bar. 

 

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The dinner at Mickey's bar turned out pretty well. While Kirk had initially been a bit stiff at the unfamiliar surroundings, Fawkes had managed to get him to snicker and relax after singing a bit and showing him an image of Harry, as he had been when he had climbed out of the lake following the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The mental image of Harry at age fourteen, holding a girl in each arm and looking like a wet cat, finally broke the ice. 

Kirk, Mickey, the Potters, and, surprisingly enough, Daniel the sorting hat had a long discussion regarding how the wizarding world's remnants and Starfleet could benefit each other. Over time the conversation evolved into one about leadership and the burdens of command. As the conversation was winding down, Daniel muttered quietly, "Hufflepuff, definitely Hufflepuff."

"What was that Daniel?" asked Hui curiously. 

"Oh, I was just speculating on which house the Admiral would have been in. A thousand years of placing people in houses is hard habit to break. Admiral Kirk would have been a brilliant Hufflepuff, much as your Mr. Diggory could have been had he lived to graduate. He understands that a commander will get the job done, but a leader will truly care about the people doing the job and is more than willing to do the job in the place of their subordinates," said Daniel wisely. 

Kirk nodded and raised his glass towards the hat on the table in front of him. "If you'd met me at age eleven, or even eighteen, Daniel, you might have decided otherwise; I was far more reckless and ambitious in my younger years, determined to make my mark on the universe. It was my early years in Starfleet that showed me what was truly important. Its part of the reason why I did all those first beam downs, during those years on the Enterprise. I always felt it was necessary to make sure it was safe for my crew before I'd put them in harm's way. Unfortunately, too many paid the price for coming with me. Harry, Hui, you're going to learn through the course of your lives that being a commander can be taught. Anyone can learn tactics and paperwork and tell people what to do. Leadership, on the other hand, is something that either you have or you don't. A leader will pay the price for every injury and casualty that occurs under their watch with a piece of their soul. The thing to remember is that a leader may not want the job but is more than willing to do the job so others don't have to. Harry, from what everyone here's told me, I think that you have that special something that makes a leader. I'm not saying that as an Admiral, but as someone that's proud to know you."

 

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The next month flew by for Harry and Hui. Hui was working intently with Dr. Lifferth and Dr. McCoy, who had returned to active duty, in developing a series of non-invasive tests and protocols for identifying and evaluating the magical potential of any witch or wizard currently in or joining Starfleet. 

Harry's time was spent writing the briefing, setting up and testing out demos as well as verifying how magic would react with the technology that was likely to be in the briefing room. 

The morning of the briefing, Harry was in the briefing room ensuring everything was prepared. As Harry went around the room triple checking everything he was going over everything he would say to make sure he didn't screw anything up. He wanted this to go perfectly so he could do something to help restart the wizarding world without jeopardizing his career. 

Harry was so lost in his nervousness he didn't notice Admiral Kirk escorting Doctors Lifferth and McCoy, Mickey and Hui into the room. The Doctors and Hui were there to assist Harry and present the medical side of things while Mickey was there acting as a representative of the civilian wizarding population. They watched in good humor as Harry adjusted the folder in front of Admiral Nougra's seat for the third time. 

Kirk cleared his throat and Harry seemed to jump six feet straight up as he snapped to attention. "Sir, the presentation is ready Sir!" Harry snapped out like a new cadet. 

The older members of the party shook their heads. Kirk smiled and said, "At ease and relax Harry, you'll do fine."

"Don't worry, honey, you'll get your point across to them. They'll listen and only good will come of it. We're going to help you do this so it's going to be fine," Hui said confidently. 

"'Sides, that batch becomes too hard headed, ya can always zap 'em with yer stick," piped up McCoy with an easy smile. 

"Or you can tell the annoying weasels to go take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut and see what happens," said Mickey, adding in his own two cents. 

Harry glared at the two wise-crackers. "I'd kind of like to still be a Starfleet officer when I'm done here, thank you very much. It's just that everyone that's going to be listening to me has earned their way to this table. They've been there and done that. Me, I'm a wet behind the ears kid that's gotten lucky. I just hope I can pull this off," said Harry nervously. 

"Harry, what was that house you were in, the house of the brave and daring, Griffin house I think," inquired Kirk. 

"Gryffindor, sir" Harry answered. 

"Right, Gryffindor. Get ready to bring up that inborn bravery. These people won't kill you, but you just need to be yourself and don't bullshit them. If you don't know, say so. Make sure you let them know what's speculation and what's fact. They respect that kind of information and honesty. Now give me a final run down of the agenda. Let's see how this should go." 

 

The briefing itself went fairly smoothly. Initially there were scoffs of disbelief and raised eyebrows, but Harry made it a point to prove that there was nothing up his sleeves and performed a few spells for the gathered flag officers. Between that and Fawkes flaming into the sealed room with Daniel for the duo to participate, they seriously paid attention and began asking questions that pushed Harry to his limits. One question did toss Harry a curve that left him thinking about it off an on for some time to come. 

Admiral Purr'nell, the Catian head of the Starfleet Chaplain's Corps asked, "Ensign, have you taken into consideration that members of other species may also have the same abilities that you do and may be better prepared to assist the wizards of humanity? An example that I am familiar with is buried in Vulcan's ancient past. Those Vulcans that were gifted with extraordinary mental abilities, similar to yours and your mate's magic, were encouraged to become spiritual and healing members of their society." 

The Catian turned to face the head of the scientific division of Starfleet. "Admiral T'Lo, I hate to ask this of you, as I know how private Vulcans are of parts of their society, but would you say that at least some citizens of Vulcan might be better prepared to assist than Starfleet? I only ask because some members of Starfleet may not be as open minded to the abilities of wizards as others."

The Vulcan admiral closed her eyes for a moment in thought then opened them. "Thank you for your candor, Purr'nell. I believe that the adepts of Gaull are better prepared than others to assist in the mental training that a wizard or witch that is just coming into their powers may need for control. However, as they are rather…isolationist in nature, approaching the priests and priestesses there with such a request would have to be done carefully; much as Ensign Potter has cautioned us about approaching isolated enclaves and colonies that may contain magicians that are trained in some manner."

"Thank you Admiral Purr'nell and Admiral T'Lo. I hadn't thought of that. Assuming Starfleet agrees to assist it's something that can be looked into," said Harry. The idea of other races with similar abilities hadn't occurred to him, and would require some long term thought. 

Going over the Voldemort problem in and of itself was an issue. During the course of discussion on this topic, several ideas were tossed about that while on the surface seemed very plausible, on closer inspection hinged on two things that would bring the ideas to a halt, to be used as only last ditch efforts. Through the letters he had received from the past, Harry knew that three horcruxes were assumed to remain: Hufflepuff's cup, believed to be hidden in a Death Eater's vault at Gringotts; the Diadem of Ravenclaw, possibly hidden somewhere in Hogwarts; and a third that remained unknown. Bill's letter had mentioned that Dumbledore was always very close-mouthed about that last horcrux, but had long implied that it was out of reach. Flattening Hogwarts with a strike of photon torpedoes would probably take care of the Diadem, but no one had any idea of how to access the caverns, now sealed and apparently shielded from detection under London, and there were no other leads on the third and final object. Even the admirals who were the most skeptical of the metaphysical aspects agreed that, based on Harry and Hui's experience in the castle, there was at least something resembling 'Lord Voldemort' there and if it somehow were released, it could be a disaster. In the end they agreed to let Hogwarts and its prisoner alone, though the Federation would quietly acquire the land around the ward edges and make it off limits to anyone without clearance just in case. 

When the time came for a decision, the chairman, Admiral Nogura, released Doctors Lifferth and McCoy back to their regular duties, recused Admiral Kirk from the deliberations, and asked that the Potters and Mickey wait outside the room until they were called back in. 

About an hour later, the little group was called back in and Harry stood at attention while the others quietly waited off to one side. 

"Ensign Potter," began Admiral Nogura, addressing Harry, "I want to thank you both for bringing this information to Starfleet and the Federation's attention. We have compared the results of the examinations done by Doctors McCoy and Lifferth to Starfleet baseline results. The powers you possess, which you refer to as 'magic', appear to be related to the esper ratings that have been part of the Starfleet psych workup for decades. Your scores on all four of the standard ratings of esper potential are well above average. We have apparently been aware of 'wizards' for quite some time, but simply had no idea of the powers that people with this potential were once able to use." The elderly admiral looked around the table at the seated chiefs of Starfleet. As he met each ones gaze, they nodded. 

"Ensign, as I understand it, most of those who have these abilities today are not aware of it, due to the loss of the societal infrastructure after the wars and destruction of two centuries ago, and the subsequent loss of the knowledge and skills that made a magical society possible. Of those who have these abilities, most of them, if told, would probably not be overly interested in learning skills which have been rendered redundant in the modern world, and which are potentially destructive to their technological conveniences."

Harry sagged in disappointment. As hard as that was to hear, it was also true. Trying to rebuild the wizarding world in the twenty-third century would be nearly impossible; the worlds were all but incompatible, and very few would be willing to give up modern comforts and technology for the chance to learn to wave a wand. There was little or nothing that magic could offer that was not already available through technology. "Aye, sir," he acknowledged sadly. 

"However," Nogura continued, "the presence of this 'Voldemort', along with other incidents we have on record--"

Mickey spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "My apologies for interrupting, Admiral Nogura, but could you clarify what these other incidents involved?"

Nogura paused thoughtfully, then nodded. "The most recent one that isn't classified occurred aboard the Enterprise not long after the beginning of its five year mission. After encountering the energies at the galactic barrier, two members of the Enterprise crew with high esper ratings developed extreme abilities, include the telekinesis, telepathy, and the ability to create and destroy objects with a wave of their hands. Our theory is that the energy encountered somehow boosted their 'magic' to extreme heights. Their personalities, unfortunately, were either damaged by the energy discharge or were corrupted by the sudden influx of power. They turned on the crew, and eventually on each other, until then-Captain Kirk was forced to destroy them both."

Mickey nodded. "That does sound like magic, sir. This Voldemort creep that Harry and Hui ran across was rumored to have done things which had a similar effect, both to his power level and to his psyche."

"Exactly," Nogura agreed. "There will always be humans who, as a result of violent upbringing, genetic predisposition, or trauma, become unbalanced. Any unbalanced person can cause great damage under the right circumstances, but when one who is disturbed also possesses power beyond the norms, then we have the potential for real tragedy. 

"There is also the possibility that Starfleet will encounter races in the future who have abilities similar to yours. Hopefully they will be friendly, but we cannot guarantee that. The best defense against an unbalanced wizard, or a race of hostile magical beings, would be to have some wizards of our own, trained and equipped to combat the threat. Ensign, as I understand it, both you and your wife are scheduled to begin your operational courses in about a week. You in the upcoming operations class and your wife in medical school, Is this correct?" asked Nogura.

"Yes sir, it is," replied Harry.

The admiral nodded sagely. "There is no need to rush into things. We will need time to make plans, design new programs, learn to shield our equipment, find candidates, and develop protocols. In a few years, when you have some experience under your belt and a bit more rank on your shoulder, we may have an assignment for you, training Starfleet wizards."

Nogura looked Harry straight in the eyes. "Mr. Potter, until that time, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to assist us in creating the first contact protocols in regards to meeting wizards and what to do should Starfleet ever come across any that are hostile. We don't want to antagonize any magical beings if we can help it. You may be asked to advise other officers if situations arise that need your special knowledge. This mission will be secondary to your primary job functions upon completion of your courses. Do you accept?"

Harry didn't even hesitate "Yes sir, I do."

"Excellent. In accordance with your special duties you are herby promoted one grade to Lieutenant Junior Grade. That should help with some of the red tape you may run across. Good luck with your courses, Lieutenant Potter."


	16. Spy Hunter

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 16: Spy Hunter 

Lt. Harry Potter, after three months spent working in Admiral Kirk's office, went to his operations course as expected. When he completed the course, he was the honor graduate. The six month course was mostly on dealing with the paperwork and bureaucracy inherent to an organization the size of Starfleet. Harry was surprised to learn that, while flying was also a large piece of the course, they actually didn't do very much. Most of the flying courses were spent studying the flight characteristics of various federation craft and developing the familiarity with the helm and navigation controls that would allow a helmsman or navigator to operate them blind if necessary. 

For Harry, Thursdays were simulator time. While he proved that he was an excellent navigator, his talents as a helmsman truly stood out. Harry liked the speed and maneuverability of the Destroyers and Frigates, but the lack of staying power didn't sit too well with him. The sheer power and force behind the new Enterprise and Excelsior classes of heavy cruiser and battleship was intoxicating, but Harry personally felt like they were being forced to maneuver with one foot nailed to the floor. Putting it indelicately, Harry said that at times they moved like overstuffed pigs. 

Harry fell in love with the Miranda class light cruisers. They weren't as fast as a destroyer or as powerful as a heavy cruiser, but he felt that they were an almost perfect blending of the best features of both types. Harry quickly proved his belief in the class and soon was more than able to handle any problem tossed his way when operating one. 

When course completion rolled around and their orders were posted, Harry's classmates thought that he would get posted to a ship of the line such as the Enterprise or Hood, mainly because he was the best pilot in the class and was up for honor graduate. The assignment code posted on the preliminary orders confused everyone, though. Most of Harry's classmates had assignment codes such as SB-12 standing for Starbase Twelve or NCC-4324 standing for the U.S.S. Gettysburg. The code by Harry's name was SFC-CJC1. After some investigating they found out that the assignment code stood for Starfleet Command, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff personal pilot. Harry just shrugged off his classmates exclamations with a modest, "Well, somebody's got to fly the guy around."

The next year of Harry's life was spent doing two things, duty-wise. He flew Admiral Nogura where he needed to go and gained valuable flight experience in all manner of craft. The other thing that he did was work out contact and contingency protocols for the discovery of wizarding communities that may be out in the galaxy. During the course of his work regarding the wizarding world he was able to approach two other wizards within Starfleet. One was his old exozoology instructor, Lt. Emerson Sharpe, who had finished his stint as an instructor and was now working for the sciences division, classifying new and different species as they were discovered and reported. The other person was an engineering officer by the name of LtCdr. John Evans. Despite Harry's mother having had the same last name, Evans was no relation to Harry in any way. Cdr. Evans reminded Harry a bit of Mr. Weasley, with his enthusiasm for engineering. He had developed a bit of a reputation in the fleet as a warp drive engineering genius, or certifiable whacko, depending on who you spoke with or which report you read. Both officers were at least peripherally aware of the magical world and their own abilities, though neither had ever learned to use a wand. Both men agreed to help Harry find others like them within the fleet. 

When he wasn't ferrying the head of Starfleet around, in the evenings and on the weekends, Harry did everything he could to make Hui's life easier. Med school was extremely demanding for her and, while she was doing well, the little things that Harry did such as cook dinner or give her a massage when she was stressed made her life much better. Roughly three months before the completion of her second year, they received confirmation of her acceptance to the medical school at the Vulcan Science Academy to complete her medical training. Within a week of this, Harry received new orders posting him to the Federation embassy on Vulcan as the head of transport operations. 

 

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One morning as Harry was at his desk doing some minor paperwork in regards to the admiral's next trip, Yeoman Hogan, Nogura's main office administrator, came over to Harry's desk. "Lieutenant Potter, the admiral wants to see you in his office." 

Harry nodded and took a moment to lock his computer. "Thanks Hogan, any idea what he needs to see me about?"

"No sir, but I do know Admiral Grevais is still in there and the old man said to come right in." said Hogan. 

Harry shrugged "Oh well, I wonder what they want with me?" Harry said mostly to himself. He had been in private meetings with Admiral Nogura in the past and was used to this, usually in regards to travel arrangements or the plans regarding the protocols for contact with magical humans. Something seemed different about this time however. 

Hogan went back to his desk just outside the Commander of Starfleet's inner offices. Harry knocked on the closed door and immediately heard "Enter" through the polished oak. 

Harry entered the office and said "Lieutenant Potter reporting as ordered."

"At ease Mr. Potter. You know Adm. Grevais," said Nogura. Harry did know the admiral and disliked the man. While Admiral Grevais was always polite and courteous to anyone he spoke with, and had never once done anything to give Harry a reason to dislike him, something about the man reminded Harry of Lucius Malfoy. With Grevais being the head of intelligence, this may not have been a bad thing, but Harry still disliked the man. 

"Admiral," Harry said politely. 

Grevais got up from his seat and began pacing around the room. "Mr. Potter, I find myself in a bit of a quandary. One of my teams has run into a problem and you may be the only one that can resolve it. This is mainly due to your unique talents and certain artifacts that you have in your possession. I'll be honest, I don't like having to go outside my organization to solve a problem, but in this case discretion is of the utmost importance. 

"There is information we need, information held in a location that is highly secure and heavily guarded. It has so far not been possible to penetrate this location without setting off the alarms and risking capture. I could tell the team currently assigned to this to back off of their investigations, but losing this information could cost innocents their lives. On the other hand, I could tell the team to go in with guns blazing, but at what cost? Worst case, we could end up in a war for no reason.

"I'd rather not go that route, either. You present me with a third option that I don't think anyone would expect. You have the ability to get in and out with a minimum of fuss, and most likely undetected."

Harry thought about what Grevais was saying. While he didn't trust the man any further than he could throw him, Harry also didn't have any reason not to agree. "I understand, sir, and I'm willing to help. I hadn't really thought about using my abilities for this sort of thing; I don't know much about how the intel game works, though I do know the value of good intelligence." 

Grevais looked at Nogura who nodded slightly. "Mr. Potter, don't sell yourself short on knowledge of how the intelligence community works. You probably know it better than you think. You're not aware of this, but one part of my organization is very interested in you and your 'abilities'. Truth be told, I wish I could disband them but I can't. However, I can get them to back off. I'd rather have willing assistance from someone, even if it's just on occasion, than an agent who was coerced into this business. I've found that in the intelligence business, the most loyal people are the willing participants. If you do this for me, regardless of success or failure, intelligence won't try to recruit you or your wife, just ask for assistance on the few occasions when your talents might be the only option left aside from violence."

Harry nodded and said, "Thank you admiral. I appreciate that. Sir just out of curiosity, what if this group decides to disobey your orders?" 

Admiral Grevais's eyes hardened. "Mr. Potter, I dislike violence but there are times when it is necessary. That being said, if anyone tries to coerce you into working for intelligence, you have my permission to do whatever you like to disabuse them of that notion--no restrictions and no recriminations on your part. I loathe agents of mine that go rogue. As far as I am concerned, if anyone in my organization tries it, they've gone rogue and you can do whatever you want to them; I'll back you up one hundred percent."

Admiral Nogura spoke up at this point. "Lieutenant, Admiral Grevais is your commander for this mission. Good luck." 

Admiral Grevais and Harry left Nogura's office and went to a secure briefing room, where the details of the mission were explained. In a few days, the Romulan consulate was going to be holding an open house. Harry was to go in and get to the Romulan military attaché's office and make a copy of the information in the storage device on the attaché's computer. Once that was done, all Harry had to do was leave. There were no plans for heroics or dirty tricks. 

When Harry had asked why he was the best solution to the job, Grevais let him know that is was due to the security of the office. It was obviously alarmed and monitored, but the nasty thing about it was that you couldn't use electronic or mechanical lock picks on any of the possible entry points. If you did, there was a high powered Tesla field generated over the entrance points that prevented entry. As far as the technical division could tell, using Harry's magic would short circuit the defensive mechanisms and allow entry. In addition, the invisibility cloak that Harry had would allow for almost undetectable access and egress from the consulate. During some testing on the cloak that Harry had allowed, the R&D and scientific branches had found that if there were floor pressure sensors or an audio sensor, Harry could be detected, but against almost all other known forms of detection in the electromagnetic spectrum, Harry was invisible. 

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Two days later, Harry got his chance. The first evening open house had begun and Harry was able to get inside with no trouble. He donned his invisibility cloak and grabbed two of the Weasley twins' inventions, his wand, and then he simply followed one of the curious visitors through the doors and past the guards posted there. 

Once inside, Harry moved as carefully as he could so he would make as little noise as possible. He moved along the walls doing his absolute best to not snag his invisibility cloak on any of the artwork or displays. He found his way to a stairwell and made his way up the stairs to the second floor. Before opening the door to the hallway, he pulled out one of the two gifts from the Weasleys that he had brought along. Harry had seen and used the extendable ears before and while he had one with him, he didn't want to use it as of yet. He needed to get a look at what might be in the hallway. 

The item that Harry took out was called the 'Eye Spy' by the twins. It was a visual version of the extendable ear, something they had developed in the war years after Harry had disappeared. They had included several in his 'care package'. 

He put the viewpiece to his eye and a small whitish tube extended out and went under the door. By twisting the tube to the right and left he was able to see that there were no guards around on this portion of the hallway. A slight flick and he was able to see that directly above the door. There was a security globe, but it didn't appear that the optics were aimed down at the door, but instead out along the hallway. 

After he removed the eyepiece, the tube retracted itself and Harry pocketed the small magical artifact. Taking a good look at the doorframe, he noted that it appeared to be alarmed but nothing indicated that it was actually hooked up. The wires going to the sensors at the top and side frames appeared to be disconnected. Harry kept in mind that this was an older building that the Romulans had been renovating; it was possible that they just hadn't gotten around to hooking the sensors back up just yet. On the other hand, thinking back to what he had learned in the Academy and various security briefings he'd gone through, he decided that there was little chance of that possibility. The appearance of disabled security was likely a ruse designed to lull intruders into a false sense of security.

Pulling his wand from its ankle holster, Harry placed the tip close to the door's latching mechanism and whispered, "Alohamora". As he had suspected, there were other sensors in the door that would have set off alarms had he opened it. These shorted out with a flash of sparks at the influx of magic. Pushing down on the lever, he opened the door as slowly as he dared and slipped into the second floor hallway. 

Moving a quietly as he could he reached the door leading to the outer office of the attaché's sanctum. Once again he cast, "Alohamora," and opened the door.  
Closing the door behind him, he took stock of the room. It wasn't all that different from any number of executive assistants' offices that he'd seen over the past year as Admiral Nogura's pilot. Noting that there were two other doors in the office, one behind the assistant's desk and one to the side, Harry made a mental coin toss and went to the one behind the desk.

Whispering another unlocking charm, Harry once again blew out the alarm system on the door. This door also had sparks shoot out of the frame as well as several electrical arcs cross the doorframe. 

Turning the doorknob, Harry entered the room beyond. As he guessed, it was the attachés office. Quickly looking around the office for the computer he was supposed to copy to contents of, he saw no sign of any computer at all.

Rapidly going over the bookcases and portraits on the walls, he found no hidden data terminals or electronic devices, but he did find an old fashioned wall safe. Deciding to look at that last, he went back over to the desk. Harry remembered from one of his security briefings that one thing most executives and senior government officials tend to forget to do is lock their desks when they leave for the day. Taking a chance, Harry lightly pulled on one of the drawers. Sure enough, it opened right up. Inside was a pad of paper and three data chips. Thinking quickly Harry tore off three sheets of paper and quickly transfigured them into duplicates of the data chips. He replaced the originals with his transfigured copies. The copies were outwardly identical but would not function. To someone not expecting magic, they should simply seem to have been corrupted or damaged, so no one should suspect theft. Pocketing the originals, he closed the drawer and completed his investigations of the desk. 

Finding nothing else of interest in the desk, Harry went back to the wall safe. Noting that the safe itself looked strangely out of place in an office such as this, he wondered why the Romulans kept it instead of replacing it. 

Deciding to risk it, he did one last unlocking charm on the safe. With a click, it opened ever so slightly and a beep could be heard in the office. 

'Bloody Hell,' was all Harry thought when he heard the beep. He hurried out of the office and away from there as quickly as he could; that sound had undoubtedly been an alarm tripping. He was heading down the hallway when four centurions rushed towards him. They sprinted past him as he flattened himself in the doorway of another office, holding his breath. He observed them going onto the office he had just vacated, and proceeded to sneak down the remaining distance to the stairwell he had come in from. 

Luckily, the stairwell on the first floor was partially hidden in an alcove, but Harry didn't take a chance on somebody being there anyway. He pulled out the 'Eye Spy' and took a look. There was no one in the alcove at the moment, but Harry didn't think it would be long before someone decided to check the stairs for an intruder. Extending out the 'Eye Spy,' he took a look around the corner. The straight shot that he had when he came in was gone. The front doors were closed and there were several guards milling about, giving the visitors evil looks. 

Looking about quickly, Harry spotted what appeared to be the entrance to a lavatory across the hall and a few doors down from the alcove. Quickly pocketing the 'Eye Spy,' Harry slipped out the stairwell, closed the door as quietly as he could and shot across the hall. Entering the room, he found that it was what he'd thought and he saw his way out. 

On the far wall was a fairly large window. It was solid transparent aluminum and, under normal circumstances, would not break even if something large and heavy was thrown at it. It was thus not considered an access point as far as security was concerned, but Harry had magic on his side, something that the Romulans hadn't come across before. He cast a 'Reducto' at the window, sending shards of clear metal flying outwards onto the grounds. Spinning around, Harry cast a second spell at the wall next to the doorframe. The resulting blast made it appear that a bomb had gone off in the room. 

Diving out the window, Harry made his way to the fence line. He discovered that the fence was at a minimum electrified, so he cast one Reducto at the fence as well. The section he had aimed for blew apart in a shower of sparks and Harry walked calmly outside the fence line. Taking one last look at the consulate, Harry decided to leave a calling card of a sort. He cast an illusion that the twins had come up with and included the instructions for in the care package entrusted to Daniel. Apparently, sometime in the past, the twins had seen the movie Ghostbusters and developed an illusion of the poltergeist 'Slimer'. Harry's 'Slimer' headed for the shattered window and the Romulans who were already investigating the blasts. 

The Romulans started yelling in fear at the illusion and fired several disruptors at the harmless image floating in their midst. Harry, not wanting to be around when they figured out it was harmless, disappeared into the night.

 

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Harry turned over the Data chips to Adm. Grevais and gave him a rundown of what he had done to get in and out. Harry had thought that Grevais would be angry about the less-than-stealthy exit from the consulate, but instead the Admiral laughed. 

"Lieutenant, what you did explains some of the communications we've intercepted coming from the compound this evening. The Romulans are going nuts about hiring every paranormal investigator in the Bay Area. They think the place is haunted. I remember from your briefing that it is possible, but this is a classic. I don't think any real ghosts would mind at all. Hell, if any are around, they might even want to join in the fun. Anyway, thank you for getting these chips. We'll see what's on them and hopefully it was worth the effort. Dismissed." 

As Harry got up from his chair and headed out of the room, Grevais called to him. "Lieutenant, if for some reason we need your services again, you'll be contacted by my office, and my office only, in regards to project 'Ghostbuster'." 

"Yes sir, I understand," Harry replied with a smile. He left the debriefing room to go home and relax. 

 

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During their last month on Earth, Harry and Hui spent most of their time packing up the apartment for the movers to take to Vulcan. With Harry being part of the Embassy staff, they would be assigned a large, two-bedroom apartment on the compound when they arrived. For Hui, this was convenient as the Vulcan Science Academy medical school was only a few blocks away; if she wanted to, she could walk there for her classes each day. 

Fawkes decided not to come with them to Vulcan. Apparently the idea of other worlds appealed to him and a world full of Vulcans just excited the immortal bird of fire to no end, but Fawkes had managed to convey that Earth was his home and the source of his magic. The swan sized bird also didn’t want to take the chance of having a burning day aboard a fragile space ship. 

There was no lack of Vulcans on Earth for Fawkes to play with, anyway. Usually, when Fawkes wasn't around the apartment or downstairs at Mickey's bar, he could be found over at the Vulcan consulate, usually having some sort of mental 'conversation' with one of the staff members. He found Vulcans, with their calm, logical, non-violent ways, quite refreshing after centuries among volatile wizards and witches.

Daniel had been offered the chance to go as well, but had decided to stay at Mickey's. Mickey had built Daniel a clear case so that he could talk to anyone in the bar and be protected from any of the more exuberant patrons, when they had a bit too much to drink. 

On the Saturday evening before leaving, Harry and Hui were just finishing dinner at the bar when Admiral Kirk entered the bar with Admiral Grevais. Mickey had given Kirk a man's bracelet that allowed him to get around the notice-me-not charms on the bar. Since then, if Kirk needed a spot to conduct a private meeting with an individual that he knew wouldn't be monitored, he brought them down to the bar for a good meal and a bit of privacy. 

"Evening Jim, need the room for a bit?" asked Mickey when Kirk walked in. 

"Nope Mickey, just going to see the kid brother and your granddaughter off, and wish them well," responded Kirk as he headed towards the Potters. 

Harry and Hui made room for both admirals and Harry put up a privacy charm to make sure that no one listened in. Kirk and Grevais made some small talk for a few minutes with the Potters before Grevais came to the real reason he had come with Kirk. 

"Lieutenant, the real reason I came by tonight was to let you in a bit on what that job you pulled for me netted," began Grevais.

"Job? What job? Harry, just what have you been getting yourself into when I'm at school?" asked Hui. She was drumming her fingers on the tabletop in annoyance. 

When Harry had gone on his mission into the Romulan consulate, Hui had been taking one of her finals for her summer semester at medical school. Harry hadn't mentioned this to her as he didn't want to blow her concentration on school. 

Harry ran a hand through his messy black hair. "Hon, well you see, it's like this," he began.

Grevais held up a hand, stopping Harry. "Mr. Potter, you can let Mrs. Potter into the details of why you took the job after we're gone. She's a Starfleet officer, too, and has the proper clearances; she deserves to know why you did what you did. That being said, I wanted to let you know that one of the chips was blank, but with the other two you struck gold. While they didn't have what we sent you in there for, the information on them was much better than what we initially wanted, and has allowed my department to take care of several things that we had no idea about. Mrs. Potter, good luck with your studies. Mr. Potter, I was able to hold up my end of the bargain but remember what I said, it's open season, and no restrictions." 

With this Grevais and Kirk took their leave. 

"Harry what have you been doing when I've been in class? You're supposed to be flying Nogura around, not playing Spy," said an annoyed Hui. 

"Hon, I know. But I did it because…" Harry explained out his reasoning behind his decision to do this and not letting Hui know. In the end they worked it out so that if something like this should happen again, she'd be brought in on it so he'd have some sort of magical backup and a doctor nearby to help if he got into something over his head. 

Early Sunday morning the two of them said goodbye to Mickey and made their way to the shuttle that was to take them to spacedock. Fawkes accompanied Mikey to spacedock to say goodbye as well and sang a joyful song to wish them well on their journey to Vulcan. 

The two of them watched Earth recede into a small bright point of light before they warped out of the Sol system for the three day trip to Vulcan. Harry played a recording of Fawkes singing a melancholy song when they went to warp that slowly changed to one of happiness as they were going to be on a new world with new adventures to await them. 

Three days later, they arrived at Vulcan. Though they had visited the planet as cadets, this was a new world for them to call home, and while Hui would be in school and Harry would be working in a quiet job for the next two years, they both were sure that this was the start of a new set of adventures.


	17. I have a Headache

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok? 

 

Chapter 17: I have a Headache

After their arrival on Vulcan, the Potters reported in at the Federation Embassy, where they were assigned an apartment on the Embassy grounds. They made arrangements to have their belongings delivered later that week. In the meantime, until their furniture arrived, they slept on the floor, which was surprisingly comfortable. 

The next week, while Harry was getting up to speed on his duties at the Embassy, Hui spent her time arranging their apartment and exploring the city of Shi'Kahr. While Vulcan did not have a 'capital' city, as Terrans would define it, Shi'Kahr was where most non-Vulcan visitors first arrived. Most of the Federation facilities were here, along with numerous embassies and the Shi'Kahr Academy (referred to more commonly as the Vulcan Science Academy). 

Hui's trips around the area gave her ideas for lots of things to do when she and Harry managed to have matching days off for the next two years. She found day trips that tourists could take, the local shopping area, small cafés that she could study in and relax at the same time, the Vulcan zoological and botanical gardens and all the shortcuts to and from the Academy's medical school, which was just a short distance from the Embassy. 

Harry's first few days were spent getting set up at the transportation office and getting familiarized with how the Embassy rules and regulations worked. As he discovered, being the Transport Officer for the mission meant that he didn't get to fly all that much, but would be spending most of his time doing paperwork and in the maintenance bays going over the repairs and modifications that were being made to 'his' vehicles. 

One thing that the Potters noticed was that they were completely acclimated to the thinner atmosphere of Vulcan and hotter climate much more quickly that normal, in about a month rather than the several months to a year that was considered typical. They also didn't require the Tri-ox treatments that most humans needed to work effectively on the planet until they had acclimated. Thinking about it one evening, they decided that their magic was probably the cause of the rapid adjustment. This conclusion got Hui speculating that it might be possible to have witches and wizards to survive on some of the more marginally habitable worlds due to their magic forcing physiological changes as a survival response. Harry wrote this down in a journal he kept just for ideas that the two of them had, on the off chance they might be able to use them in the future in their quest to restore the wizarding world. Considering all that they currently knew, he didn't have much hope that any of his ideas would actually be used, but he took the attitude of 'if you don't write it down, it didn't happen'. 

Once Hui started classes at the medical school, she found that the Vulcan methods of instruction fit much better with her own preferred style of learning. She quickly made her way to the top of her class, despite being a transfer student and most of her classmates being of Vulcan descent. Vulcan teaching methods were more of a master and apprentice relationship than the classroom and lecture setup that she had been accustomed to. Her instructor, Master Healer Sorrel, only took on the occasional small apprentice group as he was also the head of the medical academy. Those groups he did take on were universally agreed to be the best students and often went on to be the movers and shakers of the medical community in the future. 

The last time Sorrel took on an apprentice group had been roughly twenty years earlier; that group had included two future winners of the Nobel and Zee Mangees prizes in medicine, and the newly appointed head of Starfleet General Hospital, Dr. Keme M'Benga. Hui's group of five apprentices attended to all of Sorrel's cases and assisted him in treatments and diagnosis. 

Hui told Harry that she had learned more about medicine in just the first few weeks of his instruction than she had learned in the previous two years. Sorrel's gentle and hands-on teaching style had enlivened her studies to the point where she actively looked forward to lecture hall days so she could bring the knowledge learned there to Sorrel for real world applications. 

 

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During their time on Vulcan, the Potters took the time to play tourist whenever possible. As a member of the Embassy staff, Harry was often required to attend formal Embassy functions. Not being a naturally social and gregarious personality, Harry only truly enjoyed attending them if his wife was there to keep him company. If Hui was not available due to school commitments, Harry would do his best to beg off from attending or, if he had to put in an appearance, do the absolute minimum he could and then head home. 

When the Ambassador asked Harry about this behavior, Harry explained that Hui had apparently inherited her grandfather's love of meeting new people. Harry himself, due to some unpleasant experiences in his youth (which he didn't go into detail about), wasn't a big fan of being shown off. He only enjoyed doing the dog and pony shows when she was there, as she didn't make it seem like a big production, more like a gathering of old friends than anything else. 

The ambassador laughed at that and told Harry that his wife's abilities in that regard would make her an excellent director of a medical research facility someday, because donors like that sort of thing when it's time to raise funds. He also said that if she ever went into the diplomatic side of things, that was a very rare gift, and she probably would go far there as well. 

Towards the beginning of their second year on Vulcan, the Embassy held its bi-annual formal ball. The Cotillion, as it was informally known, had many of the dignitaries and ambassadors in residence from other Federation members as invitees. This year, Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda happened to be on-planet and were attending. Harry and Hui were both able to attend and were looking forward to it. Harry was hoping to meet Spock's parents, just to see the kind of people who raised the first Vulcan he had ever met and one of the best teachers he had ever had. Hui, on the other hand, was just hoping to see them; after all, how many times do you get to see a galactically known personage up close?

The Potters were among the first to arrive, and went through the receiving line fairly quickly. While Harry was on the Embassy staff, being the transportation officer didn't require formal duties like standing in the receiving line, much to his and Hui's relief. Hui knew how much Harry disliked being the focus of attention, and being on the receiving line would only make Harry uncomfortable even though he wouldn't be the focus. 

During the meet and greet prior to the dinner, Hui introduced Harry to Master Healer Sorrel who, true to Vulcan tradition, was outwardly calm and understated in his evaluation of Hui's prowess as a student. Harry, after months of practice interacting with the Vulcans on staff at the Embassy, could read the truth in the subtle expressions and body language he was presenting to them. 

In a quiet moment after Sorrel had gone on to speak with other guests, Harry said to Hui, "You know, underneath that stoic exterior, there were some pretty powerful emotions. I think he sees you as one of the best students he's ever taken on." 

"I don't want to agree, because it sounds conceited, but I sensed something, too," Hui murmured, almost dumbstruck. "I've never seen him that animated when talking about someone. Sometimes he's close to that when describing a procedure, but never a student," she continued, speaking quietly. She really didn't want to embarrass her teacher. 

Harry winked and let out a smirk on his tanned face. "I won't tell if you won't."

Hui smiled at Harry and the two of them moved off to meet other guests before dinner started.

When dinner was announced, the Potters weren't sure if they should kill Ambassador Kevoian or send him a giant thank you card. The chief Federation envoy had the final say on the seating arrangements for dinner, and had apparently approved of the Potters being seated next to Ambassador Sarek and Amanda for the meal. 

After being seated, Amanda broke the ice by immediately turning to Harry and saying, "Sooo, you're the infamous Harry Potter that my son has spoken about." 

Harry's jaw dropped. He had not seen Commander Spock since leaving the Enterprise for Earth back at age sixteen; he'd had no idea whether Spock even remembered him, much less mentioned Harry to anyone outside of the Enterprise crew. Sarek, on the other hand, looked typically impassive at Amanda's comment, but if you looked closely, you could see his expression change and almost say, "That's my girl," with no little amount of pride. 

Harry responded with a sheepish, "Infamous, Ma'am? I don't know about that."

Sarek raised on eyebrow ever so slightly. "Mr. Potter, I believe that my wife is what you would call 'pulling your leg'. While my son does let us know of his students, he has yet to label any of them 'infamous'…though his newest ward, Saavik, may come close to fitting the definition." 

A small smile graced Hui's features at the gentle teasing that Harry was receiving. As the dinner continued, the conversation drifted through a wide range of topics. Finally, towards the end of the evening, Hui gathered up her courage and addressed Sarek. "Mr. Ambassador, I have been working and studying with Vulcans now for over a year. I don't mean to insult but you seem to have a more...comfortable...approach to your emotional control than most Vulcans." 

Sarek just nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "While part of that is certainly due to my many years married to Amanda, as a diplomat I also find it useful to make the attempt to understand and decipher emotions. Sometimes it is beneficial to understand…where a person is coming from emotionally, so a satisfying and logical solution can be found to a problem."

Harry followed up with a question of his own. "Sir, I was wondering how you managed to pull off so many successful negotiations? From what I have read, in some cases it seems like a miracle that you managed to get the various parties to sign and uphold your work." 

Sarek's expression changed ever so slightly, not in anger or the appearance of being insulted, but more along the lines of seeing humor in the comment and deciding to exploit it. "Mr. Potter, a 'miracle' is an interesting turn of phrase. None of what I have accomplished at the diplomatic table was a 'miracle'. Mostly, it consisted of finding the logic of the disputing parties' arguments and cutting through the emotions that were clouding the issues at hand. However, if my skills and reputation as a negotiator were to cause some of those that I am in negotiations with to believe that I have a deity assisting me and performing 'miracles' on my behalf, who am I to disabuse them of that notion?" The twinkle in his eyes would have put Dumbledore to shame. 

Harry just smiled at the humor in the statement and said, "I see your point." 

 

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Not long afterwards, as Hui began her final year of coursework at the Vulcan Science Academy Medical School, she and her fellow apprentices were in the incoming patients' reception area when they received word of a Vulcan Starfleet officer who was being brought in for treatment. The officer had been the victim of a mental attack while on an away team on a planet near an area of space called the Triangle. 

This area of space was populated by Federation, Klingon and Romulan citizens, who didn't acknowledge any of the three governments as their central authority. This made for an interesting mix of planets: many were highly developed, while as many others were charted but largely unexplored. All three governments sent ships into the area and the officer had been one of the scientists exploring one of the uninhabited worlds. 

When the officer arrived, he was in a medical stasis chamber. The officers who accompanied him explained that the Vulcan within the chamber had become extremely violent and destructive while under attack. They had been forced to hit him with several heavy stun blasts before they could get him into the chamber and back to Vulcan for treatment. 

Dr. Sorrel called for a mind healer and then spoke to his group. "Students, our job here will be to assist Mind Healer T'lara in keeping the patient calm and assist in strengthening T'lara's mental shields when asked. Mrs. Potter, since you are human, you unfortunately do not have the psionic abilities needed to assist in this task. Your function will be to record the procedure and in particular anything the patient says during this initial stage of treatment. This will help in determining an effective long term plan of care to ensure that the patient will be able to return to society. Does everyone understand their functions?" 

The group of five apprentices responded with, "Yes Master Healer."

"Very well, let us begin. First we need to remove him from the…"

Hui was a disappointed at not being able to directly assist in helping this patient. Vulcans were touch-telepaths, so part of the standard curriculum for mental or psychological ailments included telepathic evaluations. It was not the first time she, as a mind-blind Human, had been relegated to the sidelines on such cases. However she was well aware that her notes, observations and recordings were vital to diagnosing and treating the patient. 

Once they had gotten him out of the stasis chamber and began to perform initial diagnostics, Hui was kept busy transcribing both the physicians' notes and the patient's own attempts to describe what was happening to him. As she listened, Hui realized that what the patient was saying sounded familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on why. The Tamaxidal that had been injected into his bloodstream produced a narcotic effect that effectively paralyzed the major muscle groups, keeping the patient physically restrained, while still allowing for lucid answers to questions and not interfering with the circulatory or respiratory systems of a Vulcan. Mind Healer T'lara was there to keep whatever organism was attacking his mind from interfering with the initial questioning and diagnosis.

The patient was a Vulcan science officer named Commander Stoan. The initial attack had taken place on an unexplored world in the Triangle where Stoan's ship was conducting a survey. On their last day of surveying that particular area, he had a painful flash of light occur behind his eyes and was inundated by a flood of violent, horrific memories and raging emotions that he knew for a fact were not his own. The shock and pain of the attack caused him to black out. 

Stoan woke in his ship's sickbay with a moderate headache but with no memory of the attack. The ship's physician ran numerous tests, but found nothing of concern and eventually cleared the officer to return to duty. Over the course of the next several days, however, as the ship moved away from the planet where the attack occurred, Stoan started experiencing nightmares and flashbacks of the same dark and formless memories and alien feelings, which his mind had apparently attempted to subconsciously repress in self-preservation. They grew stronger and more frequent over time, as Stoan's ability to keep them shielded was slowly shredded. In describing the progress of the affliction, Stoan likened it to the final phases of pon farr, which the healers had already confirmed was not the cause of his problems. What was most disconcerting about the dreams was that there were no images or sounds, just raw, formless feelings of terror, rage, and hate. 

Eventually, Stoan's efforts at controlling these foreign memories failed; he lashed out at one of his fellow officers, throwing her over a work station console, and then collapsed into a corner, curled into a fetal position. The Andorian physician aboard ship, not being telepathic, could not find a cause for his affliction and was finally forced to place Commander Stoan in stasis to prevent him from harming himself or others.

As the Vulcan officer recounted his memory of these events, he grew visibly more and more agitated. He had difficulty following a train of thought, often stopping in the middle of a sentence to gasp, growl, or moan in distress, before managing to control it and move on with the story. When he finally reached the point where his coherent memories ceased, Stoan's voice trailed off and he started screaming, though whether in pain or fear was not clear. T'lara placed a Vulcan nerve pinch on the stricken officer and directed that he be placed back in the stasis chamber until a treatment regimen could be devised. 

Over the next several days, Hui couldn't help but feel that Commander Stoan's story about his attack was familiar somehow, but for the life of her couldn't place why she felt this way. Finally, however, one afternoon about a week after the patient's arrival, as her group was working with T'lara, Hui finally realized why the situation sounded familiar. 

They were looking at a neural map of Stoan's brain. T'lara pointed out on the display, "This location in the patient's memory center has been hyper-stimulated, most likely by the attacking organism. The memories recorded here have no other connections in his mind, unlike normal memories which would be interconnected with related experiences. It is as if several years worth of traumatic memories have been deposited directly into Commander Stoan's mind. 

"With typical levels of mental discipline, a Vulcan faced with traumatic events can typically integrate and control the associated emotions within a short time. With so many memories, at such high intensity, Commander Stoan's mental disciplines were unable to cope with the input and have failed completely. Currently the only course of treatment that we have available to us is the artificially wall off the memories and retrain him in the mental disciplines. The problem with this is that something may trigger those memories in the future causing a relapse." 

Suddenly, Hui gasped and whispered, "Harry."

"You wish to make a comment Mrs. Potter?" asked Sorrel mildly. 

"Forgive me Master Healer, I just remembered something I was once told. I may know of someone who has experienced similar types of mental attacks. He may also have a way to cure the patient," said Hui with a slightly embarrassed tone to her voice. 

"Please elaborate, Mrs. Potter," asked T'lara

"Master Healer, Healer T'lara, with your permission, I would prefer to ask the person in question if they are willing to discuss it with you before I go into detail. Some of the events involved were very personal, and other aspects are currently classified by Starfleet. We may need to get permission to discuss those aspects with you. May I have your permission to relate some general information about this case to the person in question and possibly to Starfleet Command?"

Sorrel nodded and said "I understand, Mrs. Potter, and you have my permission to discuss this case in general terms. Please go make contact with this other victim and your superiors. Please let them know that their contribution may save the life of a person."

 

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That evening when Harry got back to the apartment he found a pensive looking Hui waiting for him. 

"Honey, what's wrong?" Harry asked in a concerned voice. 

Hui got up from the chair she was sitting in and began pacing. 

"Harry, honey, there's a problem that I need your help with and I have been trying to figure a way to explain it without hurting you or possibly killing a patient of mine."

Harry sat down on the couch that was in their living room. He undid his tunic and said "Ok, please tell me what's happened, and let me know how I'm involved."

Hui explained the situation in basic terms, without using the patient's name. "T'lara thinks it was some kind of predator, using a psychic attack the way electric eels on Earth use electricity, to stun their prey. Anyway, today I realized that the attack and the effects were a bit like something you once mentioned from your time at Hogwarts."

Harry nodded. "It does sound like this patient of yours ran across an alien version of a boggart, or a dementor."

Hui cocked her head slightly, her eyebrows drawing together. "That actually wasn't what I was thinking of, but you're right, there are some similarities there. What I had thought of was your description of your Occlumency lessons, when that Snape person was using your worst memories to weaken your resistance."

Harry nodded. "I'm not sure what you think I can do to help, though, hon. I mean, I know spells that will drive off boggarts and dementors, but from what you're saying, the critter that caused this isn't still hanging around. And I never did get the hang of occlumency; the Vulcan mind arts leave me in the dust there."

"T'lara thinks that if the affected memories could be safely removed, then her patient would have a good chance of returning to a full and productive life. I already called and spoke to Admiral Kirk, and he has granted permission for us to discuss magic with my instructors."

Harry sat there thinking for a few minutes when she was finished. "So you want to try to obliviate this patient of yours? I could teach it to you like I learned in Flitwick's fifth year charms class, but there's nothing to practice on like I had back at Hogwarts. It might be safer if I did it myself." He glanced at Hui, hoping she wouldn't be offended, but if anything she looked relieved. "If everyone agrees, I'll cast one on him and hopefully that will help save his life. Is that what you were after?"

Hui nodded. "But there's one other thing...T'Lara may also want to examine your mind, as well. I know that you don't like the idea of someone messing around in your head, but it might help, if for nothing else to see how a mind that survived that type of attack heals over time."

After a moment, Harry made a decision. "Okay, I'll do it. If the shit I went though will help save a life, it was worth it. I just hope that no one else will have to go through this type of thing again." 

 

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The next morning, after briefing the participants on the nature of his talents and what the attacks on him had been like, Harry described what he was going to attempt and the expected results before the group went to see the patient. The healer's did one last scan of the patient's mind, then stood aside as Harry cast an obliviate, targeted to wipe everything from the day of Stoan's last away mission to the present. Afterwards, T'lara began her examination of the unconscious Vulcan. After about thirty minutes of examination, T'lara left Commander Stoan's mind and declared that the memories that were the cause of the problems were gone and that he should fully recover after about six months of mental therapy to rebuild his mental shields. 

Roughly an hour later Harry and Hui found themselves in T'lara's office. 

"Mr. Potter, what I am going to do is perform a mind meld with you. This will not hurt and shouldn't take more than an hour or so to examine how your mind healed after the attacks on your mind stopped. This will give the healers here an idea of what to expect as Commander Stoan heals. I understand that the attacks you experienced were not identical, and that you did not have your memories removed as part of your treatment. If there is any lingering damage that has not healed, I shall let you know and afterwards you can decide if you want to pursue treatment," said T'lara in the matter of fact tone of a professional that was an expert in her field. 

Harry nodded his head and said "I understand, Healer T'lara. How will this feel to me?"

"An understandable question, Mr. Potter. At worst, all you should feel is a slight fluttering behind your eyes. Most humans seem to describe the feeling as a slight tickle. Shall we begin?" asked Healer T'lara mildly. 

Harry just nodded and closed his eyes. T'lara gently placed her hand on the appropriate points of Harry's face. She began with the mantra, "My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts…"

Hui watched in fascination as both Harry and T'lara's eyes started moving like they were in the middle of REM sleep. 

About ten minutes after they began, T'lara broke the connection. As Harry blinked his eyes, a minor shift in T'lara's expression occurred, giving her the appearance of worried surprise. "Mr. Potter, you have the foundations of what could become a quite formidable set of metal shields, for a human; however that is not why I broke the connection. There is a problem." 

"Problem? What kind of problem, Healer T'lara" asked Hui, sounding more like a concerned spouse than a physician in training.

T'Lara looked at Hui and said, "Nothing too serious, but your husband is carrying a partial Katra in his mind. Apparently for quite a long time, if all the indications I found were correct. Much of Mr. Potter's mental shielding has been devoted to keeping that Katra walled off . I recommend that it be removed fairly soon, however, as the barriers that Mr. Potter has built to contain it will eventually break down and it will begin to affect his personality."

Harry looked at Hui, then T'lara. "Umm, I don't mean to be rude. but what's a Katra ?"

T'lara sat back in her chair "Forgive me Mr. Potter, I should have explained. A Katra is the essence of a Vulcan. In human terms, the closest definition would be soul. To make it understandable, Mr. Potter, you are carrying a distinct and separate soul in your mind, though it appears to be incomplete. Do you know how this may have happened?"

Harry and Hui looked at each other. Both of them shared the exact same expression that one gets when a married couple is thinking the exact same thing. A Horcrux.

Simultaneously, they said in a very worried tone, "Oh Shit!" Had the situation not been so serious to the two of them would have burst out laughing immediately after they said it.

 

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Two days later, Harry and Hui were back at the medical academy in a treatment room. Healer T'lara's diagnosis had made them come to realize that the last unknown horcrux, the one Dumbledore had never talked about was lodged in Harry's scar. In the intervening two days, Hui had been worrying herself sick with all the what-if's that she could think of. 

T'lara came in with an elderly Vulcan woman who was dressed in an very archaic-looking robes. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter, this is Mistress T'pon. She is one of the Masters of Gol and a master of the mind arts. Based on your description of what this Lord Voldemort was like, and the acts that he performed to split his Katra, I asked her to be here as an observer, and if necessary, to help me in removing it from your mind and getting it into the Katra sphere." T'lara motioned to a glass sphere that was resting on a table next to the bed that Harry was going to be laying on during the ceremony. 

T'pon nodded to Harry "Mr. Potter, I thank you for agreeing to allow me to be present. What you have experienced is not something that is completely understood by us. Vulcans becoming keepers of katras is a situation we are familiar with. There have also been incidences of other intelligent races carrying Vulcan katras on a temporary basis on occasion. Your case is unique, due to the abominations that you have described that created these katra fragments, the fact that this katra is not of Vulcan origin and the length of time that you have carried this fragment. Healer T'lara has informed me of the rudimentary mental shields that you do have in place. As an expression of my gratitude for allowing me to observe and possibly assist, I have brought a guide regarding mental exercises for you to examine. Should you be able to successfully understand and perform them, they will allow you to eventually build a formidable set of mental defenses, for a human."

Hui looked at the two Vulcans and asked, "Healer T'lara, Mistress T'pon, from a medical standpoint, what is going to be occurring?"

"Not much from a general physiological standpoint. Mr. Potter's heart rate and breathing may increase slightly and some other minor metabolic increases may occur. The most noted changes will be in brainwave activity. Externally, Mr. Potter will look like he is asleep. However the monitoring of brainwave activity will show activity resembling deep REM sleep, similar to vivid dreaming or possibly a nightmare. Nothing harmful, but he will be tired afterwards and probably require a few days of rest at home before he is fully recovered," said T'lara with a tone of confidence. T'pon stood passively to one side and just nodded in agreement. 

"Healer T'lara, Mistress T'pon, I can't thank you enough for helping get rid of this…this thing in my head. I don't mean to insult, but are you sure you can do this without being hurt? Tom Riddle was a completely irredeemable person and what little I know about what he did to himself to do this to his soul -- or Katra, or whatever you want to call it -- worries me quite a bit. If any of his personality or abilities are still there, you're going to have your work cut out for you. Don't underestimate that thing in there just because it isn't Vulcan," Harry finished, while tapping the side of his head with his finger. 

"Do not worry, Mr. Potter, that is why I am here. I have been able to successfully ensure tortured…'souls', if you will, are safely removed from their keepers on many occasions. This procedure, in theory, will be no different," stated T'pon without the slightest trace of emotion. 

After going over the procedure for removing the Katra of Tom Riddle from Harry's mind one last time, Harry lay down on the procedure bed and relaxed. Within a minute of T'lara touching his head, Harry appeared to fall into a deep sleep. Slowly, T'lara began a mantra and moved one hand to the globe. T'pon moved next to T'lara in case assistance was needed. 

Hui spent her time monitoring the scanners and sure enough everything that T'lara had predicted was occurring. Roughly two hours into the procedure, however, things began to go wrong. 

While nothing appeared to be happening to Harry, a very fine sheen of sweat broke out on T'lara's forehead.

T'pon observed this and said "Do not fear, Mrs. Potter, this is…unexpected but not worrisome. The Katra is resisting being moved to its sphere. This sometimes occurs when the keeper has had the Katra residing in their mind for more than a few weeks at most."

Hui nodded towards T'pon and continued to monitor Harry's brainwave activity. About ten minutes later Harry's brainwave activity decreased to the mode of a deep sleep, but T'lara began shaking like she was experiencing an epileptic fit. T'pon began moving to try and assist T'lara, but before she could touch her and set up a mental link, T'lara's eyes snapped open and were glowing a bright green. 

"Ahhh…Harry Potter, how nice of you to provide me with such a powerful body to begin my return in," began the Katra of Tom Riddle that had possessed T'lara. "Too bad it's not magical. Perhaps I will be able to find a magical being to convince of my… Unngh." T'pol had moved quickly and applied a Vulcan nerve pinch, causing the possessed Vulcan healer to collapse bonelessly to the floor. 

T'pon looked at T'lara's sprawled form. "Mrs. Potter, that was not supposed to happen. Please assist me in moving your husband to the floor. He shall awaken within the next few hours. We need to get Healer T'lara on the bed so I can remove the Katra that is attempting to take over. This will take some time, but just to be safe, please be prepared to stun me in case it is successful in possessing me instead of my being successful in placing it in the sphere." 

"Yes Mistress T'pon," replied Hui. She quietly drew her hold-out phaser and set it on the table where she was monitoring the procedure. 

T'pon began her attempt and it was a long fought effort. About three hours later, the sphere began to glow with soft reddish light. A sweaty T'pon removed her hand from T'lara's brow and accepted a towel from Hui. 

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter. That was…difficult. The Katra was extremely stubborn in removal," said a clearly exhausted T'pon in an apologetic tone of voice. "I apologize for not taking your warnings about the Katra with all due diligence. I have never encountered such a twisted Katra before. I do not know how a being could be that…perverted in outlook. I shall take Healer T'lara to Gol for mental healing. In the meantime, let us check on your husband." 

"Okay, Mistress T'pon. But what about you, are you going to be alright?" asked a concerned Hui. 

"Do not trouble yourself for me. I shall undergo the necessary therapy upon my delivery of T'lara to the mind healers of Gol. In the meantime, I ask your permission to study the Katra of this Tom Riddle. Perhaps the adepts can learn something from it. Once our studies are complete, or shortly before you leave Vulcan, whichever comes first, you and your husband will have to release it to the winds so that it can go to its final destination," T'pon said.

 

"I have no problem with that Mistress T'pon, but you are going to have to ask Harry for his permission as well. I don't think he will mind as long as the proper precautions are observed." 

After they made Harry a bit more comfortable, he began to wake. "Uggh, I have a headache," he said to no one in particular. 

Hui just leaned over and held her husband on the floor. Harry was going to be alright. 

HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHP

Harry and Hui Potter stood together on a rocky outcrop, just above the main entrance to the sanctuary at Gol. Resting on the ground a few meters away was a glass sphere, still glowing a malevolent red from the imprisoned Katra...or horcrux, as Earth's wizards would have termed it. 

"Are you ready?" Hui asked her husband. Her medical studies were complete, and the two of them were preparing to leave for their first starship posting within the week.

"Yeah," Harry replied softly, then cast a silent reducto at the sphere. It shattered, bright shards of glass flying out and down the mountain slope. The red mist congealed for a moment, then screamed in pain and anguish before dissipating and vanishing.

"It's too bad that wasn't the last of them," Harry sighed. "There's still two left, if Dumbledore was right. One in Hogwarts somewhere, and one buried in the old Gringotts vaults deep under London, where even modern sensors can't penetrate. Voldemort is still immortal, trapped in the castle. You saw him, though, just like I did. He's healing, and he has at least a little of his magic. I can't help but wonder if, someday, maybe a thousand years from now, he'll manage to find a way out of there."

He and Hui turned and began the long descent back to their vehicle, parked at the desert's edge. 

That night, Hui Potter had another nightmare, this one worse than any of the ones she'd had over the last few years, full of blood and darkness and pain. Still, there were no details she could remember upon waking.


	18. Returning Home

Chapter 18: Returning Home  
Captain's Log, U.S.S. Artemis, Stardate 7795.89,  
Captain Brr'ynn recording:  
Since we're scheduled to head back to Earth already, our upcoming mission will have us escorting a Klingon Cruiser carrying the newest ambassador for the Klingon Consulate. We won't arrive at the rendezvous point for several hours yet, leaving me to deal with the one thing I love the most...paperwork.   
Harry took a seat in Captain Brr'ynn's office as she was looking at the computer monitor on her desk.  
"Lt. Potter," the captain greeted him without looking up. "This is just a formality, of course, but a final records review is required before you go to Command School. Normally, the personnel officer, Mr. Roberts, would handle this, but I prefer doing the reviews for people going to Command School myself." Brr'ynn tapped her claw on the desktop in irritation.  
"Yes, Captain, I understand. I'm just surprised that you haven't started snarling at the monitor yet. I know how much you just love paperwork," Harry teased with a grin.  
The Catian officer looked up and chuckled slightly at Harry's comment. "You've got me pegged there. Okay, let's go over your file so we don't have to screw with it any longer."  
Captain Brr'ynn looked at the monitor one last time. "All right, Lieutenant, according to your records, you entered the Academy in 2269, and graduated in 2273. Academically you were in the top five percent of your class." Brr'ynn paused for a moment as she read the next lines of the entry. "Hmm...I need to read my crew members' files more often. Apparently, you completed your cadet cruise with distinction, and were awarded the Decatur Star. Mr. Potter, would you care to explain how you pulled that off?" Brr'ynn raised an eyebrow as she finished the question. Her cat-like features reflected pure feline curiosity.  
The Decatur Star was awarded to members of Starfleet for extraordinary acts of bravery, specifically for combat incidents involving piracy. It wasn't awarded often or lightly, at best only a couple of times a year, and often posthumously. A mere cadet earning such a prestigious award was almost unheard of, particularly when the cadet returned to duty all but unscathed after the incident.  
Harry chuckled as he recalled the events of his cadet cruise, including the chewing-out he'd received from Hui and the captains of the Lorax and Yorktown for commandeering that fighter and flying it in ways it had never been designed for.  
As Harry finished telling the story, Brr'ynn shook her head. "Only you, Harry, only you," she muttered, more to herself than anything else.  
Looking back at her display, she continued reading. "Hmm...graduated seventh in your class. Detailed to Starfleet Headquarters right out the Academy to work with Admiral Kirk for a special project, though the details are apparently restricted. Promoted to lieutenant junior grade for your work on that project."  
Pausing for a moment after reading that notation, she continued on. "Graduated first in your Operations class, then assigned to Commander, Starfleet, as his personal pilot and aide. Excellent Officer Evaluation Reports during your time there and the same can be said for your time at the Federation Embassy on Vulcan."  
Captain Brr'ynn looked up from the display with a wry expression. "And now we have reached my contributions to what I'm sure will be either a storied or infamous career, depending on who you ask," she said with a smile.  
Harry nodded and a smile crossed his features. He felt that Captain Brr'ynn was an excellent commander and didn't mind her sense of humor or her tendency towards light teasing. It helped relieve tension in meetings and other mildly stressful situations.  
The captain straightened slightly as she read through her own notations from the past. "Assigned to the newly commissioned U.S.S. Artemis as helmsman and security chief, under my command. You've had excellent OER's since coming aboard two and a half years ago, so I'm just going to go over the high points of your time with us."  
Brr'ynn cleared her throat and continued. "A little over a month after coming aboard, you led the investigation into an attempted theft of information at the Memory Alpha facility, and then single-handedly saved the ship during the recovery of the hijacked starship, U.S.S. Juggernaut." After a momentary pause, Brr'ynn said. "You know, that would not have been exactly the way I would have suggested revealing your special abilities to the crew, but I must admit it was extraordinarily effective."  
Harry groaned slightly as he thought back to the incident in question. The Juggernaut had been a Romulan War-era battle cruiser that lived up to its name. She had been hijacked from the Museum Fleet at Memory Alpha by Orion pirates. At the culmination of the pursuit and recovery operation, an Orion starship had self-destructed, in an attempt to both avoid capture and destroy the pursuing Starfleet vessel, the Artemis. Somehow, though even after two years no one really knew how, Harry had managed to project his magic into the ship's deflector systems, creating, for just a moment, a magical shield just outside the ships regular shields. The magical shield deflected just enough of the titanic energies from the blast to allow the Artemis's shields to protect the ship from any catastrophic damage.  
Unfortunately, the feedback that was channeled from the magical shield and the ships normal shields had almost killed Harry. He had received six broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a skull fracture from being flung across the full width of the Bridge. Both of his arms and hands suffered second and third degree burns, in addition to some compound fractures, and his magic had been completely drained. His physical recovery only lasted about a month thanks to modern medical technology, but it took another six months for his magical core to restore itself to full strength.  
"Captain, I fully agree with you there. Believe me, if I could have, I'd have found a better, not to mention less painful, way," Harry said sheepishly but with a bit of humor in his voice.  
A deep purring rumble escaped the Catian officer as she said "I can't argue with that. Now, onto later, less painful, points."  
Tapping the screen again, Brr'ynn continued. "Your assistance during the Gorn alliance conference was invaluable, and the diplomatic corps representative stated that your choice of gifts was the tipping point to getting the alliance signed." Brr'ynn looked Harry in the eye. "Just out of curiosity, Mr. Potter, how did you know that the Gorn would appreciate that ancient Earth comedian?"  
Harry snickered for a moment. "When I was initially learning the Gorn Language, I got hold of some of the Gorn people's popular entertainment in order to better understand the conversational diction and syntax of the language. A lot of it reminded me of some of the slapstick and sketch comedy I saw bits of as a child. I searched the archives and found some recordings of old Benny Hill shows that were similar in nature to some of the Gorn comedy shows. I did the vocal translations from English to Gorn and presented the videos to the Gorn diplomatic party with an explanation of what they were. Two days later, any time the Gorn delegates saw a human smiling, they broke out in fits of laughter."  
Brr'ynn just rolled her eyes at the explanation. She honestly just didn't get the Human race's preference for slapstick humor and sketch comedy...or, apparently, the Gorn's similar tastes. Catian humor was more subtle and less physical. "Right, then, moving on to the most recent high point of your current tour of duty."  
Tapping her screen, she brought up the next page. "Ah, yes. The incident with the Tortuga Three mining colony was an excellent piece of work. Another example of your linguistic and cultural knowledge getting us out of a sticky situation. We would never have discovered the real source of the problem without the Klingons' cooperation. Even so, I couldn't help but notice that you seemed rather tense after dealing directly with your Klingon counterpart for the mission."  
Harry scowled for a moment as he thought about the Klingon in question. The guy had looked a bit like his old classmate Crabbe...or was it Goyle? Not that it mattered; he hadn't seen either of them in over ten years. But that Klingon's voice, personality, attitude and overall physical and mental oiliness were one hundred percent 'greasy git.'  
Shaking his head to remove the scowl from his face, Harry replied, "I'm sorry Captain, Lt. Kage strongly reminded me of a very nasty teacher that I had as a kid. Professor Snape." He shook his head and frowned slightly. "The man always managed to push all my hot buttons every time he saw me. Constantly insulted my parentage and abilities, while pretending to teach. Lieutenant Kage managed to do the same thing, although in his case it was my species, not my parents that he chose to insult. Needless to say, I wasn't in the best of moods after dealing with him."  
Captain Brr'ynn nodded her head. "I understand. And yet you managed to work together and accomplish your goals without incident. I admire your restraint, Mr. Potter. It's the sign of a good officer and a good leader." After a moment, she continued. "Well, Mr. Potter, your records are in good order. You should do well in command school. I've got nothing else, so you're dismissed," she finished with a smile.  
As Harry headed out to the bridge and his duty shift, Captain Brr'ynn called out, "Harry...off the record, I had to speak to that Lt. Kage several times, as well. If there hadn't been a viewscreen between us, I'd have grabbed the hffthsst by the scruff and tanned his hide myself." The Catian insult needed no translation, sounding as it did like a cross between a feline hiss and spit.  
Harry broke out in laughter and continued to the bridge; enjoying the camaraderie of knowing he wasn't the only one Kage had pissed off with his attitude.  
HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOS  
Harry looked at the readings that the helm controls displayed in confirmation. "Captain, we have reached the rendezvous point."  
"Very well. All stop, Mr. Potter," responded Captain Brr'ynn  
"All stop. Aye, Captain," responded Harry as he powered down the engines and used thrusters to kill their forward speed.  
"Mr. Storan, bring up the latest data that the Klingons transmitted. I don't want to anger the ambassador or his transport when they arrive." Brr'ynn stated in annoyance.  
The Klingons had only transmitted the final information about who the Ambassador was and his transport ship in the last few hours, much to the annoyance of the Federation and the crew of the Artemis.  
According to the documentation, The Klingon light cruiser, Interrogator, was the designated transport for the new ambassador to the Federation. Harry had gone over the ship's specifications and didn't see anything out of the ordinary from what the Artemis' war book listed regarding ships of its class. Harry had just opened up the file about the Ambassador when he did a double take. Re-reading the information, Harry thought to himself, 'Bloody Hell this is going to be interesting.'   
Clearing his throat, Harry spoke up "Captain, in looking at the data, I think that we might want to greet the ambassador a bit differently than we normally would."  
Captain Brr'ynn raised an eyebrow "What do you mean, Lieutenant?" she asked in a curious tone of voice.  
Harry spun his chair around to face her. "Captain, I've told you about how I got that Bat'leth of mine, right?"  
Brr'ynn nodded her head and said, "Go on."  
"Right, well a lot of my knowledge about Klingon culture came from the manual that came with the sword. Some of the manual dealt with what they perceive as proper etiquette between warriors in honorable situations. It's all a bit complex to explain in the short amount of time we have before the Interrogator arrives. The main thing is that the ambassador is a member of a Klingon family that I'm...well, I guess 'associated' with is the best description that I can come up with. They were the ones who presented me with the Bat'leth. With all due respect to Mr. Storan's linguistic skills, we'll get a lot more respect from them if I do the greeting by their traditions, given the existing relationship."  
Brr'ynn thought for a moment, then looked over at Storan inquiringly. The Vulcan linguist gave a slight nod. "I find Mr. Potter's suggestion eminently logical in this situation."  
The captain turned back to Harry and nodded her head in agreement. Over the next half hour the bridge crew went over what was going to happen, and Hui brought up Harry's Bat'leth from their quarters, where it had been hanging prominently in their living room.  
Shortly after the discussion had finished, the Artemis' science officer, Commander Martinez spoke up. "Captain, the Interrogator has just entered detection range. It looks like she's alone. She'll be in communications range in about two minutes.  
Brr'ynn nodded and said, "Okay Mr. Potter, it's your show."  
Harry checked his console one last time, verifying that the Artemis' defensive weaponry was on standby but not powered up. The last thing he wanted was an accidental discharge of the ship's weaponry.  
Standing up, Harry moved in front of the helm and navigation console, and after taking a deep breath he said "Open hailing frequencies to the Interrogator."  
The main screen came to life, showing the bridge of the Klingon starship. Standing in the center of the screen was the ambassador, dressed in the traditional battle uniform of a senior Klingon officer but with the white robes indicating the position of Ambassador draped over his shoulders.  
"Greetings Krulack, son of Tharg, Heir Regent of the honorable House of Moog. I am Harry, Son of James, current Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter," Harry began in the most formal and ritualized form of Klingon he knew. "For more than ten years our houses have been allies and as the designated representative for the ship's company and crew of the U.S.S. Artemis, we are most honored to be your guide and escort through Federation space. I am looking forward to, if possible, renewing our acquaintance as the Artemis escorts you to what I am sure will be a most trying and yet rewarding assignment."  
Krulak looked at Harry in slight confusion for a moment. Suddenly, a look of recognition flashed across his face as he realized exactly who had given him this traditional greeting.  
Slapping a fist to his chest, Krulak bowed slightly. "Lord Potter, it is I who is honored to have your gallant ship and crew to be our guide to Earth. You are looking well and I can see that the reports of your progress as a warrior were understated. Your Diplomatic Corps was kind enough to update the House of Moog whenever we inquired about your life and position. I do apologize for our not being able to communicate with you over the years, but as you are well aware the political situation between our two governments can be somewhat contentious at times and the House of Moog had no desire to derail your career," Krulak said with an honest smile.  
Krulak then switched from the formalized Klingon to Federation Standard. "Now that the formalities are observed, if you don't mind, I'll speak in your language. I need the practice if I am to perform my duties properly, Lord Potter."  
Harry nodded and replied, "Please do, Ambassador Krulak, I completely understand. But please, Ambassador, call me Harry, or Mr. Potter, in line with my duties. Calling me Lord Potter makes me want to look over my shoulder for my father or grandfather."  
Krulak's booming laughter filled the bridge. "I know what you mean Harry, I know what you mean. As such, please call me Krulak, save when the formality is necessary."  
Harry nodded his head in agreement to Krulak's request. "Krulak, allow me to introduce you to the Command staff of the Artemis."  
Krulak agreed to this and Harry moved around the bridge introducing the various individuals and portraying them in the best light possible.  
Once Harry had completed his introductions, Captain Brr'ynn stood and said "Ambassador, I realize that your schedule may not allow for it, but I invite you and the Command Staff of the Interrogator to dine with us one evening before we get to Earth."  
"Captain, I would be honored. Unfortunately, as you have guessed, I'm buried in paperwork in preparation for my new duties. Should I get the opportunity, I will take you up on the offer, thank you. Krulak out."  
Once the connection was closed, Brr'ynn looked around the Bridge and said "Okay, that went well, but something seemed off about it. Any ideas?"  
The general agreement was that something was off about the whole Klingon side of the conversation, but no one was really sure what until Harry spoke up. "Captain, I don't claim to be an expert on Klingon culture, but I think what the problem was the body language of some of the Interrogator's crew. Most of them were doing their duties as far as I could tell, but at least a few of them, I don't know, didn't seem to like the situation they were in or something to that affect. It's not something I can really put my finger on."  
"I understand, Mr. Potter. Let's keep it in mind for our reports when we get back to Earth."  
Two days later, Harry was back on the bridge for his bridge shift. Over the past two days the Artemis had noted an increase in the comms traffic between the Interrogator and the Klingon Empire. They figured this was probably normal; perhaps Krulak was getting last minute updates before he arrived on Earth and assumed his ambassadorial duties.  
Looking at his instruments, Harry frowned in slight puzzlement. Ever since its arrival, the Interrogator had been flying in perfect synchronicity with the Artemis. But now, the ships were drifting ever so slightly apart, as if the Klingon helmsman had made a slight error in a course correction and hadn't noticed. Given their previous utter precision, it seemed out of character.  
"Captain, something's not right about the way that ship's flying," said Harry in a concerned voice.  
Captain Brr'ynn observed the Klingon t'h'lar class light cruiser through the viewscreen. "Mr. Potter, it looks okay to me. Can you clarify?"  
"She's drifting a bit, like their helmsman's wandered away from his post."  
Harry went over the ships sensors and saw nothing wrong with the readings, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. "Captain, with your permission, I'd like to notify sickbay to be prepared. Call it a gut feeling, but I don't think..."  
Suddenly the whine of a Klingon transporter beam cut through the noise on the Bridge. Materializing in front of the Navigation and Helm station, Captain Krulak, the new Ambassador that they were escorting to Earth, was a sight to behold. The Klingon appeared to have been in the fight of his life. His uniform had several tears and cuts over what appeared to be deep wounds. Large bruises and a spectacular black eye were blossoming on his face. However, the most telling injury was the large knife protruding from his side.  
Somehow managing to draw himself to attention, Ambassador Krulak spoke in a harsh whisper. "Captain Brr'ynn, I, Captain Krulack of the House of Moog formally request asylum in the United Federation of Planets."  
With that, he collapsed over the Helm and into Harry's lap.  
HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOS  
The command staff of the U.S.S. Artemis waited patiently in the briefing room at the Sol system (Earth) Spacedock. They had been sequestered at the facility since the Artemis had limped into orbit two weeks previously, after the near catastrophe of their assignment to escort Ambassador Krulak's transport to Earth. Bry'ynn and her senior staff knew that they had done everything they could to defuse the situation, but in the end it was the commander of the Interrogator who pushed things beyond the point of no return.  
Their only regret was the destruction of the Interrogator, though the Artemis's flight recorders would show that it was a case of self defense.  
As the door to the room opened, the Command staff of the Artemis stood at attention as the board of inquiry and the two observers from the Federation and the Klingon diplomatic corps entered the room.  
Normally a board of inquiry would not be convened for a ship being damaged during the course of normal operations along the border, but due to the potential diplomatic crisis engendered by the events, the destruction of a Klingon ship of the line and the fact that the Artemis had been almost destroyed as well, one was necessary.  
"Be seated," ordered Admiral Hachtel, the current head of Starfleet Operations.  
Once they had sat, Harry took note again of the unusual nature of this board. Normally, something like this might have a Fleet Captain or a senior time-in-grade Captain as the board's head, but this gathering of stars, not to mention the diplomatic corps being involved, was definitely going to go into the record books.  
Hachtel sat as the board's chairman, joined by Admiral Kirk, now head of Training Command, Admiral Yeager, Head of Bureau of Ships, Admiral Patton, Sector commander for the Klingon border, and Admiral Metz, Sol System Spacedock commander. The diplomatic observers were Nicoli Debidenkov from the Federation and Ambassador Tork from the Klingon Empire. Tork was the one Krulack had been intended to replace; due to the political upheavals within the Empire, his duty had been extended.  
Harry took it as a good sign that none of the Board or the observers seemed to be in a bad mood or presented an air of ill will towards the Artemis's command crew, though Ambassador Tork did seem smug and yet annoyed at the same time, giving him and interesting facial expression.  
Admiral Hachtel took a sip of water from the glass on the table the board was using then began speaking. "Thank you all for your time. I would like to thank in particular Ambassador Tork for his input on the background reason for the incident involving the U.S.S. Artemis and the I.K.S. Interrogator."  
Pausing for a moment, Admiral Hachtel looked at each member of the board and the diplomatic observers. Receiving a nod from each one, he continued. "It is the opinion of this board of inquiry and the Diplomatic Corps that nothing the officers and crew of the U.S.S. Artemis could have done would have prevented the attack on the Artemis by the I.K.S. Interrogator. This is due to the political climate at the time of the attack within the Klingon Empire, and the noted belligerence of Captain Ank of the Interrogator."  
Looking down at his notes the Admiral continued. "Ambassador Tork was able to provide us with the written orders stating that the Interrogator was not authorized to use its weapons under any circumstances. Noting these orders, the Klingon Empire has declared the Interrogator's attack an act of extreme cowardice and will be taking steps to prevent this type of behavior."  
"As such, we find that the Artemis could in no way have avoided the Disruptor strike that damaged the starboard warp pod beyond repair. Also, we have noted that the Artemis's shields were down due to standard fleet directives; this will be addressed at a later date with no recriminations on the part of the Command Staff of the Artemis. This board is now closed and all members of the Artemis's command staff are returned to full duty status. Dismissed."  
Once the board had left the briefing room, Captain Brr'ynn dismissed the Artemis's command staff and wished Harry well at command school.  
When Harry left the room, he found Ambassador Tork and Admiral Hachtel waiting for him.  
"Lieutenant Potter, just a moment. I have some information for you before you leave," said the Admiral.  
Harry stopped and brought himself to attention. He noted the smug look on the Ambassador's face and wondered what it was about. "Yes sir. What can I do for you?" he asked.  
"Mr. Potter," Admiral Hachtel began. "I'm not sure why, but the Diplomatic Corps and Starfleet Command have decided that, in addition to your regular duties, you're going to be Captain Krulak's guide to the Federation and help him fit in."  
Ambassador Tork let loose with a booming laugh. "Potter, Krulak's your headache now; I hope you can handle it." The ambassador pointed at Harry, and added conspiratorially. "Just remember sometimes having a back channel is a good thing."  
With that, the Ambassador turned and walked off. Admiral Hachtel just shook his head at the retreating ambassador's back. "I won't keep you any longer, Lieutenant. Carry on and good luck in Command School."  
HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOS  
Harry and Hui walked down the hallway in Starfleet medical to Krulak's room. Krulak was in the secure wing more for his own protection than anything else. A Klingon warrior being treated for injuries at a Starfleet medical hospital was odd enough due to the antagonism between the two governments, but there were many patients that might quite frankly prefer to kill a Klingon as soon as look at them.  
Hui stopped for a moment in the hall, wincing in pain for just a second.  
"You okay, Hon?" asked Harry in concern.  
"Just another headache. It'll pass in a minute," she said waiving off Hurry's concern. Over the years that Harry had known Hui, he had known that she would get piercing short headaches, and while nothing had ever been found as a cause, they still bothered him and he wished that there was something that could be done to stop them.  
As soon as the headache passed, they continued on to Krulack's room.  
Entering the small room, Krulack said "Harry, Hui. It's good to see you. Does it go well for you?"  
"Not too badly," Harry acknowledged. "I've got news from my superiors and from the Klingon ambassador about where you're going once you get out of here. Once you've got that, can you explain a few things to us?" Harry's tone suggested he had good news, but was curious about Krulack's reaction.  
Krulack nodded in agreement as Harry explained the conversation he'd had after the board of inquiry, including what the Klingon ambassador had said.  
Once Harry had finished, Krulack shook his head and said, "This surprises me very little. I see you wonder why...let me give you some background to how I ended up as part of your house, Harry."  
Harry raised an eyebrow in curiosity while Hui asked, "Part of our house? I don't understand, Krulack."  
Krulack sighed and started his explanation. "The tradition dates back to about two thousand earth years ago, give or take a few. The founder of the empire, Kahless the Unforgettable, let it be known that if one house vouched for a, quote, 'Traitor,' then that house became responsible for the individual in question."  
"So that's what Ambassador Tork meant by saying you're my headache now," Harry mused.  
"Yes, that's it. But there is more that you need to know. Tork's comment about having a back door goes back to that time as well. The short version is that when Kahless left the throne, he dictated that his closest advisors were to rule in his stead as equals, with one being the tiebreaker or judge in disputes between advisors. Over time, that position became the chancellor of the Empire. One of the first chancellors, Dexrip I believe, convinced the advisors that having back channels to the other advisors would help eliminate any discord as they ruled the Empire. I believe that our new Chancellor, Gorkon, wishes me to fulfill this role. What that actually means is that despite my defection, should disputes occur between the Federation and the Empire, The Federation will have a direct line to the Chancellor's ear, without all the Diplomatic code speak. Be warned though, anything that I transmit to him, will be checked thoroughly, as I am not exactly part of the high command any more." Krulack finished with a bit of a chuckle to his voice.  
Harry smacked his forehead into his palm and just shook his head. Hui, on the other hand said "Krulack, don't mind him. Harry's life's been interesting to say the least, and your joining our family just makes it even more so. You'll be out of here in a few days and be living with us. So don't worry, we'll take care of you, you're family now."  
Harry and Hui left Krulack's room a few minutes later. He looked at his wife and said. "Krulack's family now. Sort of an honored uncle I'd guess. How do you think he's going to take it when he finds out about Magic?"  
Hui just shrugged and said "Pretty well, if his recovery and reactions to how his life has changed is any indication. He seems to adapt to change fairly well."  
Harry just smiled and though to himself 'Hermione would just call it my people saving thing and she'd be right. A Klingon uncle, this is going to be interesting."


	19. It Never Rains but it Pours.

Chapter 19: It Never Rains but it Pours.  
A few days after Krulack's release from Starfleet medical, Harry and Hui decided that it was time to let Krulack in on magic. They didn't want to surprise the Klingon and have him completely freak out, nor did they want to give up magic while he was with them.  
Krulack was a gruff and a somewhat short-tempered individual compared to the average human, but he was quite a bit more cosmopolitan than the majority of his race. Before making up his mind on a species and any cultural foibles that they may have, he looked at things very objectively and non-judgmentally until he had as many of the facts as he could get. He had been a bit standoffish when Harry first explained the existence of human wizards and magic, but hadn't seemed to want more of an explanation, at first.  
Several days after being introduced to what was left of the magical world, Krulack explained to the Potters why the concept of "magic" concerned him. He explained that Klingon legends of the "gods" described Klingon rulers with similar powers and abilities. These rulers were generally extremely cruel and callous by any rational being's standards. Eventually the populace that these "gods" had ruled rebelled and killed them off one by one. After the rebellions were over, any child that exhibited any resemblance of these abilities were killed to prevent the "gods" from returning.  
The Potters blanched a bit at this description of an ancient massacre of alien "wizards", though it sounded like the Klingons had had more than their share of dark lords. They accepted Krulack's explanation and assured him that they understood. Human cultures, too, had myths of evil wizards and capricious "gods", though clearly the Klingon myths were more deeply ingrained. They knew that he would get used to human magic eventually. Harry decided to explain about Voldemort to Krulack and all the nuances that he was aware of in regards to the bastard.  
Over the course of the explanation of Voldemort and what he had done, Krulack made the comment that Voldemort would have probably joined in with the Klingon "gods" and their depravity with no problems.  
Once Harry and Hui finished their tale and the problems involved with dealing with Voldemort once and for all, Krulack swore a blood oath to help the Potters in ending Voldemort's existence.  
HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOS  
"Captain, we're leaving sector 15 for sector 16," stated the ships navigator, Lt. Lucas, a bit nervously. They were approaching the Neutral Zone and this piece of the area was known to be full of all sorts of spatial oddities that would make navigation an interesting time to say the least.  
Harry nodded in response, then ordered, "Helm, adjust course so we parallel the zone, but keep us out a bit. No need for some cosmic string to shoot us through the zone like a archers arrow."  
"Aye, Captain, adjusting course," replied the helmsman with a bit of a chuckle.  
Harry smiled slightly as he remembered what Captain Hewlett's report of their incident along the sector had stated. "The Yeager hit a cosmic string that reacted just like an archers bow on release and shot them deep into Klingon space, knocking out all ship defenses and most of their power."  
The ship's communications officer, Lt. Tafari Uhura, spoke up. "Captain, I'm receiving a distress signal, audio only."  
Harry spun his chair around and faced the young man. He was the youngest nephew of one of his mentors and one of his oldest friends in the 23rd century, Nyota Uhura. "Lieutenant, put it on speakers, and tell me what you can about it."  
The bridge speakers crackled to life and began to play the weak transmission. "…This is the…Altair Six…Gravitic Mine…Please Assist…"  
"Sorry Captain, that's the best I can do. There's just too much interference. But I was able to get a directional fix on the signal. It's coming from Gamma Hydra, sector 10."  
Harry frowned at the information. "Shit, right smack in the middle of the Neutral Zone." He thought for a moment "Mr. Sakharov, what's the latest Intel on who's patrolling the Klingon side of the zone?"  
"One moment, sir," said the Russian science officer from his station. After a moment of manipulating the science station's library controls, he said, "Sir, the squadron 'Emerald Fire' was reported in the area most recently."  
More to himself than anyone else, Harry muttered, "This just gets better and better. What's next, that ship's got some politicians daughter on board?"  
Making his decision, Harry sat up a bit taller in his captain's chair. "Okay, we can't let these people die or end up as long term prisoners of the Klingons. You all know how prickly they are about territory violations, regardless of the reason. On my authority, we're going in, get them, and get out of there as fast as possible. Please note the ship's log as such." Pressing a button on his armrest, he called out, "Engineering, have the transporters ready, and I need warp 8 in one minute. Mr. Skohne, plot an intercept course. I want us as close to that signal source as possible. As soon as we drop out of warp, get the shields up and reinforce them as well as possible. When I give the order, drop just the shield facing the other ship, assuming it's still intact. I want us in and out as fast as possible."  
Harry looked around the bridge before continuing. "Ladies and gentlemen, if any of you feel that you cannot follow my orders in regards to my decision to violate the neutral zone, feel free to leave the bridge with no repercussions on your part."  
After no one moved for a minute, Harry nodded. "Thank you, everyone. Bring the ship to Red Alert. As soon as all stations report ready, go to warp 8."  
Just under a minute later, all stations had reported in and the U.S.S. Hood shot into warp.  
On the Bridge, Harry was intently studying the main viewer. It had several different displays open, giving information ranging from general data on the crippled ship that had been encoded in its distress calls, to a tactical plot showing the astronomical layout of the area the Hood was going to, including any estimated threats and their locations.  
After a few minutes the Hood dropped out of warp at the approximate co-ordinates of the crippled ship. As soon as the Hood stopped, Lt. Uhura cried out, "Captain! The signals have been cut off!"  
"It's a trap," Harry barked out as soon as Lt. Uhura made his announcement. "Nav, plot a course out of here, fast as you can. Helm, get us moving as soon as you can. Weps, blast out a tachyon field as far as you can. If anything's cloaked out there, that might let us spot them before they can attack."  
Suddenly, the Hood rocked violently and a hollow boom echoed through the ship.  
"Damage report," Harry asked calmly. He knew that yelling wouldn't accomplish anything at this point.  
After a moment, the Hood's Command Master Chief spoke up from the Damage Control Station. "We hit an anti-matter mine Captain. No casualties reported, but the shock knocked the warp field balancers out of sync. So far no reports of structural damage to the hull. Call it thirty minutes to get the balancers resynced."  
Harry ran the numbers in his head and didn't like the results. "Damn," was all he said.  
Turning to the science station, Harry asked, "Mr. Sakharov, what's out there? Somebody laid a trap for us and they've got to be around here somewhere."  
Mr. Sakharov responded immediately. "Only a small asteroid field at 192 mark 3. Completely unremarkable at first glance. I'm running an energy scan now."  
Harry thought to himself "That would be a perfect hunting blind."   
Mr. Sakharov suddenly turned to face him. "Captain, I've got three low power energy signatures in there. A D-7 and a pair of K-5's. The D-7 is definitely the Emerald Talon based on the signature. Looks like the K-5's are escorts for the Talon. Captain, according to the war book, the Emerald Talon usually has a pair of Bird of Prey escorts, not those K-5's. Either they have upgraded ships or he's called in a favor to get better escorts for the time being."  
Harry had never had the pleasure of meeting Captain Khosin, but he had read about the Klingon's exploits in great detail and had a pretty good idea of how to stamp "paid" on his account.  
"Emerald Talon, indeed. More like Emerald Vulture," Harry snorted in disgust. "Mr. Uhura, Patch me through to those pirates. It's time to put a stop to Khosin and his merry band of cutthroats."  
"Channel is open, Captain," said Lt. Uhura after a moment.  
Harry nodded in acknowledgement and in a clear voice began to speak "Khosin, you sorry excuse for a pile of Targ droppings, get your cowardly ass out here so I can kick it properly, or do you want the Empire to know of your dishonorable ways? I know that your escorts aren't your normal ones. Who'd you threaten or blackmail to get them to go along with this little scheme of yours?"  
Harry then moved his hand across his throat in a slashing motion.  
As the Hood waited for the Emerald Talon's response, Harry reminded himself of a few things. First of all, the Emerald Talon hadn't been in any sort of fight in at least five years. At least since Khosin had taken command. They were commerce raiders and pirates, picking off crippled or unarmed ships. They were out of practice and rusty when it came to fighting any sort of ship that could defend itself. Secondly, that anti-matter mine had wasted itself against the Hood's shields and only scorched paint. The hull was completely undamaged but looked nasty. They had full power for all systems and only the warp field balancers were keeping them here for the moment. Next, according to everything Harry had read, Khosin was a coward at heart and had stayed away from a stand up fight with an equal. Khosin's known history indicated that he'd rather knife you in the back than fight you face-to-face. Harry wasn't sure how he had gotten command of a fairly up–to-date D-7 Battlecruiser, but he was willing to bet that Khosin had probably assassinated, extorted or bribed his way to the post. Finally, Harry was playing a hunch. Most likely, Khosin had blackmail material on whatever Klingon house those K-5's were part of. Harry, by wording his challenge the way he did, would force Khosin to fight one-on-one, without his escorts, or be branded a coward throughout the Klingon Empire.  
Lt. Sakharov spoke up after a few minutes of waiting. "Captain, the Emerald Talon is heading our way. Her escorts are leaving the area at roughly Warp 7."  
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Now, to finish the job." Harry said confidently. In the back of Harry's mind however he thought, "I bloody well know what I need to do, I just hope I can pull it off. If I don't, Hui's gonna kill me and Merlin only knows what Starfleet will say no matter what happens next. "  
"Captain, transmission from the Emerald Talon" said Lt. Uhura.  
Mentally steeling himself for what was about to happen, Harry snapped, "Onscreen."  
The main viewer switched over to show a pinch-faced, watery-eyed Klingon that strongly reminded Harry of a cross between Draco Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew with all the worst traits of both being emphasized. Based on appearances, if Harry had to make a guess, Khosin was an opportunistic ferret that was about as smart as a box of rocks.  
Captain Khosin blinked a few times, then smirked "Well, Well…If it isn't Harry Potter. The Federation has sunk to a new low by putting you in command of anything bigger that a garbage scow."  
"Save it for someone who cares, Coward. This is the last time your raiding is going to happen."  
Switching over to Klingon, Harry continued "For your cowardly actions causing disgrace and unnecessary strife between the Klingon Empire and The United Federation of Planets; I, Captain Harry Potter, Lord of The ancient and Noble House of Potter, Friend of the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, Honored ally of the House of Moog, Challenge you for the command of the Emerald Talon."  
The shocked look on Captain Khosin's face showed that he wasn't expecting this sort of response from Harry.  
Not having much choice, Khosin said "So be it Potter, but just so you know…"  
Before Khosin could continue, a loud voice was heard over the various noises that were produced by the bridge instruments. "Open the simulator." It said in cultured voice that sounded curious and had a somewhat amused undertone to it.  
The Front wall of the simulator split open as Captain Spock and Admiral Kirk walked in.  
"Mr. Potter, wait here" began Capt. Spock. "Cadets to the briefing room for your critique."  
Turing his attention fully to Harry, Capt. Spock began "Lieutenant I am curious as to why you chose to issue a formal dueling challenge to the simulation."  
A look of relief crossed Harrys face for a moment as he began to explain "Sir, when Mr. Sakarov said it was the Emerald Talon, I knew that someone in training command had talked with Krulack. Now, he's never once talked with me about what he's currently working on with Starfleet, but we have talked about the different myths and legends of the various Klingon and Human cultures, mainly to help him deal with integrating with the Federation and humanity in particular."  
Pausing for a moment, Harry continued "The Emerald Talon was the name of a Pirate ship that Kahless the Unforgettable defeated in battle during the unification of the Klingon homeworld. Khosin was the captain of the Emerald Talon. Now what tipped me off to what was going on is the fact that since unification, no Klingon ship or battlegroup as ever been named Emerald Talon, it's a dishonorable name as far as their culture is concerned. All I did was try to do what I felt that Kahless should have done if I had been in the same position." Harry sighed as he finished wondering if he had just blown command school.  
Admiral Kirk just chuckled and said "Lieutenant, the Kobyashi Maru scenario is a character test. It's randomly generated for each Command Cadet. We checked the scenario generator and found no evidence of unauthorized access before you went in, so why it generated that particular scenario for you I'll never know. Anyway, as it stands now, this scenario is your last exam…Unless you want to take it again."  
Harry just responded with a "That's alright sir. I'll let the results stand." After a moment of introspection, he continued "Admiral, may I ask how you did on this test?"  
Spock raised an eyebrow and Kirk busted up laughing. Harry was a bit dumbfounded by this response by the two senior officer's reaction to his question.  
Once Admiral Kirk stopped laughing, he looked at Harry and said, "Kid, I took that test three times before I was satisfied with my results. Needless to say, it's a bit of an inside joke that one day you'll probably be let in on."  
Captain Spock calmly looked at Kirk, then at Harry, and , "The admiral's solution was a rather unique application of theory and history, Lieutenant."  
Kirk huffed in amusement at the description of what he had done in his youth and responded with, "It did have the virtue of never having been tried."  
Spock just raised an eyebrow in response to Kirk before returning his attention to Harry. "Mr. Potter, report back to the briefing room for your official debrief. Do not worry about your performance. All Command cadets perform in different ways and you obviously chose what you believed was the correct solution."  
"Aye sir," said Harry and left the simulator, heading for his debrief. All the while, he was wondering just what was so funny about his question.  
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Harry was not having a good month and things didn't look like they were going to get any better. Roughly a month ago, a Starfleet-wide notification had gone out that was still reverberating through the fleet, and as it turned out had directly affected Harry. The notification wasn't something he could just forget and it was something that he could recite from memory. It read:  
From: Randolph E. Morrow, Admiral  
Star Fleet Headquarters Command, Terra  
Commander, Star Fleet Command, Quadrant 0  
TO: Commanding officers, All Star Fleet vessels  
According to information obtained by the highest levels of Star Fleet Command, the race of energy beings referred to as the Organians have ceased their enforcement of the Organian Peace Treaty. This treaty, arbitrarily imposed by the Organians, prevented a war the Klingon Empire and has ensured peace between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets for the past 13 years. It now appears that current conditions exist for the Organians to permit open, widespread hostilities between elements of Star Fleet and the Klingon Empire.   
Although the exact details have not been verified by Star Fleet Intelligence, this apparent change in status is to be given the most serious consideration by all ship commanders. If the Klingon High Command is also aware of the Organians' withdrawal from active participation in Federation/Klingon affairs, the result could be a state of war.   
All ships operating from Star Bases 12, 21, 22, 23, and 27 are to proceed with their current assignments while maintaining full combat readiness for large-scale warfare against any Klingon forces entering Federation space.   
As a test pilot assigned to Research and Development since completing the command course just over a year ago, normally something like this notice wouldn't affect him all that much. Maybe there would be a heightened sense of urgency in the testing program that he was assigned to, or a tighter security presence, but that's about it. However, two days after the notice came out, things began to go downhill, as far as Harry was concerned.  
Harry had been called to Commander, Starfleet's office shortly after arriving to work down at the flight test office. In a few weeks, the Excelsior was scheduled for space frame integrity testing and while he wasn't on the docket for actually being at the helm of the "Great Experiment", he was doing the maneuvering package for the initial series of flight tests. Being called to the Starfleet Commanders office for Merlin knew what reason while working on such a high profile project annoyed him to no end.  
The moment he arrived at the Starfleet commander's office, he was ushered directly into the inner office without any delay. Before Harry had any time to react to the speed of the entry he was blindsided with a promotion to full commander due to his "Unique abilities, training and knowledge," along with several other platitudes that just went in one ear and out the other.  
Once he had left the office with his head spinning, the head of R&D explained that Starfleet felt it was time for him to get a program up and running adapting the Fleet's equipment to work in conjunction with magic as well as get the preliminary training program running for magical humans that were in Starfleet and willing to be part of the wizarding program.  
For Harry, it wasn't the program and work that he was going to do that worried him, but a few other things that were making him uncomfortable about this whole setup.  
First of all, getting promoted like that was a shock, while he felt that he could do the work and was capable of using the rank responsibly, he didn't feel as if he had the experience or necessary training to do some of the things that he might have to do. Not to mention the amount of hard core engineering that would be necessary to make all the various components of a starship magic resistant or compatible. One piece of equipment was one thing, but it would be the integration with starship systems that was the kicker. You just couldn't swap out one biobed for another and have them work; the electronics had to be compatible or you would get all sorts of weird interactions that could kill someone. The good thing about the engineering was that it was a known fact that some systems didn't need work. High energy generators, such as the shields and tractor beam projectors (which were very closely related) were already sufficiently hardened against their own energies, and thus not affected by magic. Of course, with a big enough feedback they would blow out, but that was true as much for mundane energy surges, like anti-matter mines, as it was for magic. Finally what really bothered Harry about the way this had been sprung on him was that no one at the higher ends of Starfleet Command seemed to have read his or Krulack's reports on how the Klingon culture was liable to react to a witch or wizard, let alone a colony of them. With magic being so similar to what the Klingon "god's" used to enslave and torment the ancient Klingon society, Klingons were more likely to wipe out or isolate a colony of wizards that they ran across than coerce or get willing assistance from them.  
The best thing, as far as Harry was concerned, about the project he was on, was that he got to pick who was on the team. Hui was onboard immediately and in charge of medical and life systems/support, as these areas were her specialty. After doing a bit of searching in the Starfleet Personnel database, he had pulled two of his old classmates from what a lot of the fleet considered a "dead end" posting. Harry had pulled Stendec and his wife Tara Vought from the ARCO labs in Idaho where they had been working on improving the warp field/spaceframe interactions on Starfleet designs.  
Now All Harry needed was another witch or wizard to assist in testing any modifications that were made to the current systems under review. This person would also assist in developing the necessary coursework for a Fleet wizard to be certified to use magic in and around technology. With Hui's help they had identified two individuals that were available that might have the necessary background and magical strength to do the job. Rank didn't matter at this point in time as far as Harry was concerned, Just the willingness to use magic and be willing to learn.  
The interview that Harry had gone through that morning with the first of two possible recruits for his project didn't go well at all. Lt. Dinesh Patel was, at first glance, just what Harry had been looking for. Home schooled for most of his primary education, he had done fairly well at the Academy. It appeared, on paper at least, that Lt. Patel would be someone that would embrace his magical background and meld it easily with his Starfleet career. Unfortunately, Lt. Patel's reaction to Harry's offer was not what he had expected. Dinesh was polite enough in his refusal, but let it be known in no uncertain terms that he had joined Starfleet to get away from the "backwards" wizarding lifestyle he had grown up with in India and wanted nothing to do with it in any way.  
Disappointed, Harry was hoping that the interview he had after lunch was going to go in a better direction. Based on the name alone, he knew it was going to be interesting to say the least.  
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Transporter technician, third class, Cassiopeia (call me Cassie) Malfoy stood nervously outside Commander Potter's office. Starfleet Research and Development was her first assignment outside of tech school. She had graduated with honors from both basic training and her tech school. While her records showed that she was an orphan and had spent her teenage years in a Federation sponsored boarding school, there was little information on her childhood and birthplace. She preferred it that way.  
The door to Commander Potter's office opened and a Yeoman came out.  
"You can go in now Miss." the man said as he walked by.  
Squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath, she marched into the office to meet her new Commanding Officer, Cdr. Harry Potter.  
Harry looked up from the screen in front of him. Giving the tall blond a cursory glance and approving of her appearance, he said "At ease, Miss Malfoy. Have a seat. This is just a get to know you meeting. These files don't tell you about the person and are a bit dry. So tell me about yourself. Where are you from, some things about your family, what you like to do, and things like that."  
Cassie told him about the parts of her life that were already on record, but he noted the lack of detail about her early years and her family. Harry wondered if the secrecy had something to do with magic, or if she'd just had a bad childhood that she didn't like to talk about. It wasn't like he told strangers about Vernon and Petunia at the drop of a hat.  
"Interesting Miss Malfoy. Based on your scores, and with a bit of experience, I don't see any reason why you couldn't go to the academy like you want and become an excellent starship engineering officer one day. I do have a question for you though."  
Harry opened his desk drawer, extracting his wand and placing it on the desktop.  
"I take it you recognize this?" Harry asked mildly, noting the growing look of horror on the young woman's face.  
If possible, Cassie paled even further. "How did you know sir?" she asked in a voice that indicated that she was about to burst into tears. The expression on her face plainly said that she thought she was going to be tossed out of Starfleet.  
Harry put his wand back into his desk "Relax Miss Malfoy, you're among friends and you have nothing to fear. There are two reasons that we suspected you to have magic. One is based on some of your esper and apperception scores, which we've correlated to magical abilities. The other reason is more personal. I was born just over 300 years ago, and I grew up and went to school in a magical sub-society that has since all but disappeared. You bear a very strong family resemblance and have the same last name as a classmate of mine from back then. Given the lack of information available and your secrecy about your early life, plus your reaction to seeing a wand, I suspect you grew up with wizards and witches yourself. I wasn't aware that any European communities had survived."  
Slowly, Cassie calmed herself. Maybe she wouldn't be sent back, after all. "You're from the past, sir? How did you get here?"  
"Bit of a time travel accident; it's not really important."  
"Was it before World War III? Before Voldemort?"  
Harry chuckled darkly. "Before the war, yes. But not exactly before Voldemort. He had recently gotten himself a new body and was just starting to make a nuisance of himself when I had my little accident, though no one would believe me when I told them he was alive again. I've since learned how bad it got later. He's basically the reason there isn't much of a Wizarding society anymore, though the muggle war certainly didn't help."  
Cassie's eyes widened. "The community I was born in still worships Voldemort and believes he'll return someday, though he hasn't been seen in centuries. The boys are trained from childhood in how to torment animals and non-magical people, to keep ready for the glorious day of their master's return. Of course, most of them can barely manage a tickling charm and have to resort to knives and sticks."  
"Let me guess, based on what I know of your ancestors. Purebloods, obsessed with marrying only other purebloods, and now inbred to the point of imbecilic squibs, with a few stellar exceptions where the genes aligned just right?"  
"Got it in one, sir. Most of my siblings and cousins could barely write their own name."  
"How much magic did they teach you?"  
Cassie barked a harsh laugh. "There weren't many wands to go around, and they certainly wouldn't have wasted one on a mere girl. I got to hold one when I was eleven and shot some sparks, to prove I had strong magic for potential suitors, but I've never cast a spell. When I was fourteen, they told me who I'd be marrying the next week. I left that night and never looked back. As soon as I saw what the outside world had to offer, I wished I'd left sooner. If I never see the bastards again, it will be too soon."  
By the time she was done, Harry was sure that if young Cassie Malfoy had her way, that entire community she came from would be used as a photon torpedo target.  
Smiling Harry said "Don't hold back Miss Malfoy, tell me how you really feel."  
Cassie started giggling "I'm sorry sir, but every day I live out here among the stars I get angrier at the insular ignorance and small-mindedness of my former "family". They really push all my hot buttons."  
"Don't worry about it. Go down to medical and talk to my wife, Dr. Potter. Let her know about your talents. She'll have some things for you to go over. Dismissed." said Harry.  
As he watched the young woman leave, he thought A Malfoy in Starfleet, who would have guessed.


	20. The Return of the Chosen One.

Chapter 20: The Return of the Chosen One.

Hui sat down in the cafeteria at Starfleet Medical with a bowl of vegetable soup for lunch. The past few days she had been feeling a bit...off, for lack a better term. She couldn’t put her finger on it but as a physician, she knew that she was going to be a terrible patient if she was coming down with something. 

As Hui sat at her table quietly eating and mentally going over symptoms, a voice interrupted her musings. 

“May I join you Dr. Potter?” asked Healer T’Laura. The Vulcan Mind healer was on Earth for a series of conferences and had eaten lunch with Hui several times. Their conversations had been light for the most part and didn’t really count as work-related per se. They were more like bull sessions, where ideas would freely flow that might or might not turn into medical treatments in time. 

“Certainly, T’Laura, please join me,” responded Hui pleasantly. She enjoyed their conversations quite a bit.

As T’Laura sat down at the table, a pensive look crossed Hui’s face for a second as she tried to resolve her thoughts on her own condition. T’Laura noticed the look and asked “Is something bothering you Hui?” 

“No…well, kind of. I’ve been feeling physically off for the past few days. Nothing specific, mind you, and nothing that I can describe as a true symptom of any infection or illness, just not quite up to my best.” 

Healer T’Laura nodded in understanding at Hui’s description. After a minute she suggested in a mild tone, “Hui, once we have finished here, let’s go back to your office and run some tests. As you well know, my specialty is mind healing, but I believe I can at least help you discover what, if anything, may be affecting your physical health.” 

Hui agreed and they continued with lunch and conversations on other matters.

After lunch, the two physicians retreated to Hui’s office where T’Laura ran a series of tests to see if she could discern what was causing Hui’s malaise. When she finished the last test, T’Laura made what Hui initially thought was a bit of an odd request. 

“Hui, I hate to impose, but may I perform a mind meld with you? I assure you that nothing is wrong, but it will allow me to confirm the latest sets of test results.”

Hui thought about it for a moment. She wasn’t a neurologist or mind healer like T’Laura, and if a Mind Meld would confirm some sort of neurological aberration that could be easily treated, she couldn’t think of any reason to refuse. 

“Go right ahead. I don’t have a problem with it. Hopefully whatever it is will be easily treatable or controlled.” 

T’Laura’s voice didn’t reveal anything but a ghost of a smile crossed the Vulcan woman’s features. “Indeed. It should be. Let us begin.” 

Hui closed her eyes and T’Laura placed her hands on the necessary facial points and began to speak the mantra “My mind to your mind…my thoughts to your thoughts…” 

The meld didn’t take more than five or six minutes, but towards the end Hui winced slightly as a minor headache hit her. As she winced, T’Laura’s eyes snapped open and in what would be considered an major lapse of emotional control, the Vulcan gasped out an astonished “Oh My!” 

As quickly and as safely as she could, T’Laura ended the meld. Taking a moment to compose herself, she said, “Hui, I have some excellent news and some...unusual news. Whether it is good or bad will be for you to decide.” 

Conflicting emotions crossed Hui’s Eurasian features and she processed the statement that T’Laura had just given her. Making up her mind, Hui sighed and asked “Okay, what’s the good news? Perhaps it will help balance out the other issue.” 

“Very well. Congratulations, Hui, your son is healthy and is going to be quite the curious child when he is born.” 

Hui’s jaw dropped at the news. Given the stress of her job and the strenuous exercise required of a Starfleet officer, her cycles had often been somewhat irregular, but she hadn’t been expecting that. 

“I’m pregnant? How did that happen?” Hui asked in a state of minor shock.

T’Laura raised a single, ironic eyebrow. “I trust that I do not have to give you talk about--what do you humans call it?--that’s right, the ‘Birds and the Bees’?” Though T’Laura’s tone was straightforward, the teasing humor snapped Hui out of her stunned state and brought a wide smile to her face. 

“Alright, I deserved that. But what about my implant? I thought I was still good on that thing.”

T’Laura shook her head slightly at Hui’s query. “Hui, you of all people should be aware that the implants are not 100% effective. There are varying reasons for failure, but they really aren’t germane to the situation. How will Harry take the news?” 

Hui grinned, imagining the scene. “He’s going to be over the moon about this. He’s always wanted a family. While it’s unexpected, this pregnancy is very much wanted.” Hui closed her eyes and sighed. “Now, what’s the ‘unusual’ news?”

T’Laura hesitated for a moment then said “Hui, those headaches you get on occasion, I do not know why it wasn’t thought of before, but a mind meld should have been performed while you were having one previously. From what I can tell, you have what we Vulcan’s refer to as ‘temporal sensitivity.’ A Vulcan adept with this ability can access glimpses of possible futures while in a meditative state.”

“I’m a seer?” Hui gasped.

“If that is the human term, then yes. From what I was able to gather, your ability is active, but blocked. Your conscious mind has been suppressing the visions, which is what causes the headaches. The stronger the vision, the more painful it becomes.”

Hui sat back in her chair in shock. After a moment, she asked, “Healer T’Laura, what exactly does this mean, and how will it affect the baby, let alone my mind?”

“This ability will not affect your child in any way. Now in Vulcans, the ability to glimpse futures is extremely rare. The last known Vulcan temporal adept passed on shortly after the first contact with humanity. Now, after you and Harry revealed your special abilities when you were a student on Vulcan, I took the liberty of looking into some of Earth’s legends that seemed to match your description of ‘Magic’. It has been a fascinating look into human culture. But I digress; I suspect some of the Vulcan mind disciplines might help you properly integrate the visions with your mind and memories. However, controlling when they occur is something that Vulcan techniques cannot do. There are enough differences in the human mind and brain that Vulcan disciplines will not work. I can only assume that there are humans that know of the ability that might have other methods will allow you to control the gift.” T’Laura finished with dignity, but even someone that wasn’t used to a Vulcan’s controlled speech patterns could tell that she wasn’t completely pleased with that answer. 

Frowning Hui said, “Okay T’Laura, what aren’t you telling me?” 

T’Laura looked straight at Hui “Integrating the visions is not the issue; that will not take very long and will be fairly easy. Controlling when the visions occur is the problem. I know that your practice within Starfleet doesn’t generally include surgery, but once the visions are integrated, then the visions will come without pain but could interfere with your motor skills depending on the strength of the vision. Obviously, that is something that could be lethal during surgery. At best the visions will be a bit more of an annoyance than they are now. At worst…I do not have enough information to even begin to formulate an answer.”

Hui nodded in understanding. Performing surgery was a very small part of her duties as she was more of a research physician, considering her duty assignment of improving the methods of detecting beings with the gift of magic and how to properly educate them on the use of their special abilities. 

“Well there isn’t much I can do about that at the moment, but on the bright side… I’m pregnant!” Hui finished with a cherry voice and a smile. 

 

That evening at Mickey’s bar, Harry and Hui’s small group of friends celebrated the news and couldn’t help but tease Harry mercilessly. The group thought that Harry’s reaction to the news of the pregnancy was the best thing they had seen all night. When Hui made the announcement, Harry stuttered, “You’re…Pr…Preg…Pregnan….” and proceeded to faint face first into his plate of bangers and mash. 

 

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Hui’s mental retraining for her seer abilities only took about three weeks and was, in Harry and Hui’s opinion, laughably simple. The Vulcan mental and minor physical exercises were very similar to the Chinese martial art of Tai Chi and only consisted of about 10 moves blended together. The concentration on blending the moves together allowed the memories of the visions Hui had to be painlessly integrated into her mind. An unexpected side effect was that Hui developed the ability to detect when a vision was coming and be able to take the appropriate measures to record them. 

Shortly after Hui’s being certified by the Vulcans, The Medusians also certified that Hui was the first proven human Seer on record and agreed with the Vulcans that the ability, while uncontrolled in regards to when it would manifest, the subject matter, as well as the scope and intensity of the vision, they could be beneficial to the Federation, if in nothing more than making contingency plans for events that may or may not take place. With these limitations noted, Hui was seconded to the Admiral in charge of the Starfleet Plans and Policies division for any visions that had anything to do with the Fleet or the Federation. Aside from that she was still a Doctor and working on the project that was helping identify the Wizards that might be in Starfleet.

Hui’s first officially recorded vision happened to coincide with Admiral Kirk’s actions in regards to the Mutara incident as it became known within the Federation. Apparently, after Harry had left the Enterprise to live with Winona Kirk over a decade before, the Enterprise had encountered a sleeper ship, the S.S. Botany Bay. The subsequent incident and exile of the surviving company and crew of the Botany Bay had been classified as a need to know item and had been kept very quiet within Starfleet. If the knowledge of the fact that some of the Eugenics wars leaders were now colonists instead of paying for their crimes had gotten out, it wouldn’t have sat well with the average citizen of the Federation to say the least. Unfortunately, the most sociopathic and the ringleader of the lot, Kahn Noonian Singh, had managed to hijack the U.S.S Reliant in an attempt to escape his exile. The Enterprise had managed to destroy the Reliant before Kahn could fully implement his escape plan but had almost been blown out of the sky in the process. 

The political fallout in regards to the incident and the revelation of the top secret planetary terraforming project “Genesis” was just beginning when Kirk up and stole the Enterprise. Harry and Hui, as well as Peter Kirk, were being interviewed by Federation security about two weeks after the theft, when Hui had her vision. While the details of the vision were fleeting, the general information gathered from it indicated that if Kirk were brought back from Vulcan in chains, the Earth would be turned into a lifeless ball floating in space shortly afterwards. If Kirk returned to Earth on his own, Earth would be saved by Kirk from its own shortsightedness. 

All Harry had to say about it was, “Too bad Nana’s not around anymore. Jim needs to be spanked for this stunt!”

At some point during their travels, Harry had found a pensieve in a curio shop and purchased it. While small in size and fairly heavily battered, it did allow for an in depth viewing of the Visions that Hui had experienced and walled off in her mind. In going over the memories of previous visions, they had found that most of them were fairly mundane. They were mostly about things that happened a day or so in the future, relative to the time that they occurred. However, there was a set that seemed to be re-occurring and each vision seemed to be clearer and more defined with each occurrence. 

The initial visions from the set of three that were of most concern were very vague but seemed to deal with the end of the Federation. As the visions repeated they became clearer and in the case of two of them, much more disturbing. 

The mildest of the three seemed to indicate that the Federation was willingly disbanded as it was also part of what appeared to be so larger socio-political entity that may have encompassed the galaxy; instead of just their part of the Sagittarius arm. As this seemed to be something that was occurring many thousands of years in the future, the Potters took notes but didn’t really didn’t think that this particular vision was much to worry about. 

The other two visions, frankly, scared the hell out of both of them. 

The first one seemed technological in nature and, as it progressed, indicated that the standard warp drive technology would, at some point in the future, be modified into an easy-to-use temporal transportation device. This initially didn’t seem to be much of a problem, but as the vision continued in its later permutations, various factions within the Federation perverted the idea to their own ends. The end result was a temporal civil war that resulted in massive loss of life and appeared to blow many of the worlds of the Federation back to the Stone Age. 

While very disturbing, the notes regarding this vision would allow for some sort of contingency plans to be put in place to at least attempt to save as much as possible if not stop this possible future from happening. 

The final vision was from their point of view the most terrifying. It showed Voldemort emerging from his prison, long after Harry’s death from old age, stronger than ever and even more ruthless. He then took over Earth and enslaved every living being for his own twisted amusements. So depraved were Voldemort’s actions, they awakened a genocidal anti-human sentiment within many of the other races of the Federation. These races eventually scoured the planet of all life and purposely hunted down any humans or partial humans and exterminated them; all in the idea of eliminating the smallest chance that magic and Voldemort (or some human like him) could return. 

After viewing this vision, Harry felt ill. He knew that if he couldn’t stop Voldemort within his lifetime, this vision would come true and it would be his fault. 

Hui just looked at Harry and said, “If I ever meet the bitch that made that prophecy about you and that bastard, I’m going to kick her ass from here to Antares and back!” The venom in her voice left no doubt that she would without any hesitation. 

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Harry, Hui and Krulack sat in the reception area of the Federation president’s office in Paris, having received a summons to come as soon as possible and wondering just what they had done to warrant it. Harry couldn’t think of anything he had done to merit such attention. Hui had speculated that it might have something to do with one of her visions, but couldn’t think of what would cause the President to directly request the three of them to meet with him personally. Krulack, on the other hand,had stated in a rather cynical and disgusted tone of voice, “You two I can understand, with that Magic stuff of yours. Me? If he wants me to take something back to the Empire, it’s out of the question. They’d rather blow me to my constituent atoms than hear any message or receive any artifact that I hand-carry back.”

The secretary ushered the trio into the inner office of the Efrosian President of the Federation, Ra-ghoratrei, with the normal platitudes of a career political servant. After greeting the three of them and ushering the secretary out, the president lowered the lighting a bit to accommodate his light sensitive eyes and removed the mirrored pince-nez sunglasses he normally wore. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Krulack, I do apologize for the precipitous nature of this meeting, but it is imperative that you understand the gravity of the situation I am in,” began the President in a tone of voice that indicated he was going to say something he either didn’t want to say or didn’t want to ask of them. 

“Mrs. Potter, this all has to do with the visions you have been having regarding the 20th century dark wizard Voldemort’s return. I have read the reports regarding all the visions that you have had regarding him as well as Mr. Potter’s reports and honestly, I’m not quite sure what to do about the situation. I asked for you three mainly because Mrs. Potter is the one having the visions, Mr. Potter is likely the most qualified in knowledge and experience in dealing with Voldemort, and Krulack has made no secret of his blood oath to help the Potters in their endeavors not to mention his family’s alliance with the Potter family. I wouldn’t dare interfere with a Klingon blood oath.”

The Potters and Krulack looked at each other in confusion for a moment. Then Harry spoke up “Sir, we don’t understand.” Gesturing towards Hui and Krulack “What do these visions have to do with your office and the decisions that you’re making?” 

The President sighed and sat down in a chair. “It’s actually fairly easy to understand, but difficult to execute when you’re in my position. My job, and the oath I made when I took office, requires that I do everything in my power to protect the Federation as a whole, and to protect its member planets individually. The Voldemort vision is my concern here. Predictions of the Federation voluntarily disbanding or future civil wars are problems I am equipped to deal with. Protocols and directives can and have been put in place to work with and guide us if and when the time comes. I’ve even authorized a new department that is charged with investigating temporal affairs, such as the one that brought you to the 23rd century Mr. Potter. It’s the knowledge of Magic and what I am about to ask you to do is the difficult part.”

After a momentary pause the President continued “Currently there is no way for the Federation, let alone Starfleet to stop the entity known as Voldemort. Commander Potter, the rituals that you described in the various briefings you have given to Starfleet and the Federation advisors have forced me to that realization. We can contain him for now, but to be frank, If LtCdr. Potter’s vision comes to pass, then he will break containment and spark a wave of genocidal madness that I cannot, in good conscience, allow to happen if at all possible.”

“Unfortunately,” he paused for a moment while he pulled a piece of paper from a pocket in his suit coat and looked at it “The person that is best suited to helping you destroy this threat to humanity, the Earth, and the moral soul of the Federation is one Albus Dumbledore.” 

Harry stood up from his chair and began to pace the floor. 

“Mr. President, I apologize for Harry’s reaction,” began Hui. 

The President waved it off saying “Mrs. Potter, I’ve been on the receiving end of much worse. His pacing the floor is actually a quite refreshing reaction.” 

Harry paused his pacing and faced the President “Mr. President, how can Professor Dumbledore be the person that is best suited to help? He’s been dead for three hundred yea…” Suddenly, Harry realized what the President was going to ask him to do. The realization and the possible implications hit him like a two-by-four. 

“Sir, are you asking me to do what I think you are?” Harry asked tentatively. 

“Cdr. Potter, yes you have figured out what I’m asking you to do. Based on all the information that I have been given, I am asking you to gather a team together and go back in time to stop that future from happening, then return. Needless to say, try not to change the recorded history that we know if at all possible.”

Harry moved back to his chair and sat down, staring at the floor in thought. Hui and Krulack Stared at the President for a moment before Krulack spoke up in a loud and somewhat incredulous tone of voice “Are you out of your mind? You’re talking about Changing History!!! For all we know Killing Voldemort back then will completely destroy everything that we know! You joH'a' puq vo!”

Harry looked up and placed a hand on Krulack’s forearm, stopping him from saying anything else for a moment. “Mr. President, I’m not going to apologize for Krulack’s outburst because he’s right. Back in the 20th century, the wizarding world did have the ability to go back in time for a short period, but it was highly controlled and usually not undertaken lightly. (Harry mentally noted Hermionie’s use of a time turner for extra classes in his third year at Hogwarts was the only exception that he was aware of) That’s because of the possibility of inciting a ‘Grandfather Paradox’.”

The President just shook his head and said “No need, Captain Krulack’s vitriol is a breath of fresh air and honestly, at times I think more Diplomats need to say what they mean instead of being so circular in their communications. It would make things so much simpler. Now to address your concerns regarding time travel, I made it a point to be briefed on the latest theories before asking the three of you to do this. From what I understand, the current thinking is that time is more like a tree. Each branch is a possible timeline that some major decision or action has created, and the main trunk is the common past for all the timelines. As long as you don’t do anything that interferes with the past as we know it, there shouldn’t be any problems. Yes there will be minor changes but nothing major that will affect things as we currently know them.”

Harry looked at Hui with a questioning look. She responded by stating “You know I want to see what the wizarding world was like. If we be careful, do you honestly think I’m going to say no to this opportunity?”

“Somebody’s got to keep you out of trouble, not to mention my oath to the both of you, where you go, I go.” stated Krulack before Harry could even look his way. 

Turning his attention back to the President, Harry asked “Mr. President, we’ll do it, but sir, what do we do if for some reason we can’t return to our time?”

“Cdr. Potter, if for some reason your team is not able to return to this century, you are to do nothing that will interfere with history as we know it. That means no hunting down Kahn and the other Eugenics wars conspirators, No killing Col. Green, Allowing the 9 Judges reign of blood too occur. In other words, let recorded history pass you by.” The tone of the president’s voice left no doubt that this was a direct order. 

Realizing that the interview with the President was over the three of them stood up and saluted. The President saluted back and walked over to his desk. Pressing a button on the comms station that was built into the desk, The President said to whoever was on the other end “Timerider is a go.” Looking up at the retreating forms of the Potters and Krulack, the President quietly said more to himself than anyone else “Good Luck Mr. Potter. I hope you succeed.” 

 

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One week later, Harry was sitting in the center seat of his own command, the U.S.S. Saipan. The ship was a Makin class assault ship that normally carried a Federation Marine Expeditionary unit and was modular in design. This allowed the ship to be tailored to meet the needs of the mission. Yes, she was armed, but for this mission, the armament was minimal, more along the lines of an Oberth class science vessel. A pair of Type 1 Phasers dorsally and ventrally mounted in the front of the disk and lightweight Type 3 phasers in the other phaser mounts that were more for asteroid removal than anything else. The sensor and science packages were more along the lines of a cross between one of the Columbia class Scouts and a Galactic Class Survey Cruiser: heavy automation with a sensor suite that was informally described as being able to hear a gnat fart from half a light year away while analyzing what the gnat ate for breakfast a week earlier. Within the hull itself, she was loaded for a planetary rescue mission, not storming a contested planetary landing zone.

Looking around the Bridge, Harry marveled that this little endeavor had been laid on so fast. Counting his initial team of six, the thirty Crewmembers were all volunteers, who were well aware that this could be a one way trip. Harry took one last note of the bridge crew’s locations before they started their attempt. 

Krulack sat at the weapons station. He had reconfigured it to resemble a Klingon K’tinga Class Battlecruiser’s weapons station and, honestly, Harry was glad that Krulack had decided to take charge of the ships weaponry. The grumpy Klingon knew what he was doing and if the shit hit the fan, Krulack was the best choice to gut the opposition. 

Over at the Science station sat Stendec, his Vulcan friend from back in the Academy. The Vulcan may not have been a scientist, but since their graduation he had become an absolute master of warp space theoretical mathematics.I If anyone could accurately make the necessary calculations for performing a time warp jump, it was him. 

Transporter Technician 3rd class Cassie Malfoy sat at the Damage Control Station. The transporters we not necessary for the moment, so she had taken the post, freeing up more experienced volunteers for more critical assignments. 

Down in Engineering, Stendec’s wife Tara Vought was the Chief Engineer. The flame haired bundle of energy was an acknowledged expert in space frame design and engineering and damn well made sure that the best people she had were in position for this trip. 

Mr. Shackelford sat at the navigation station. He was an old man that had retired from the fleet as the Starfleet Chief of Navigation many years before and had volunteered for this mission as a way to make one last contribution to the Fleet before he died of inoperable cancer. When he had reported to Harry for duty, He’s said in a cherry tone but in no uncertain terms “I’m retired now, I’m not an admiral, you’re in charge and I won’t hear of anything else, so don’t try to pass of command stuff to me. I’m the ships navigator and that’s it, Captain.” Harry had chuckled briefly at the old admirals statement and let him know that he had no intention of doing that but he would ask for advice when necessary and expected it to be given when asked. 

Command Master Chief Yeary was pulling double duty as the ships leading enlisted man as well as Helmsman. The Old Chief had retired a few years earlier and had volunteered to go with Harry’s Command. When he had reported and Harry had asked the Chief why he’d volunteered and he responded with “Well, I’ve got nothing left back on earth but good memories and well, to be honest, I wanted to see if you were still as good a Volleyball player as you were when I first met you at Medical.” Harry had busted up laughing at that and fully admitted that he still was pants at the game, just as he’d been at age 16 when they’d first met, but that didn’t stop him from joining in on games when he could. 

Lt. Raja Indainda sat at the Communications station. Harry had never met the small Indonesian man, but when he had volunteered he carried several letters of recommendation from communications command and Harry honestly knew that he could use someone there more for signals interception and analysis than any actual communications with 20th century Earth.   
Hui was standing behind him and when they began their attempt at time warp by using the Enterprise’s slingshot maneuver around Sol, she was going to be over at the environmental station. Despite the fact that she was 4 months pregnant with their first child, he could think of no one better to be handling the Sickbay. Besides, there was no way in hell he was going to go on this without her. If it was a one way trip, his son was going to have a daddy. 

“All stations, report,” said Harry with authority. He listened to the reports and nodded in acceptance. Pushing a button on the armrest of his command chair, Harry spoke. 

“All Hands, this is the captain speaking. We’re about to do something that honestly could either destroy the Federation as we know it or save it from a fate that is honestly too distasteful to contemplate. All of you are volunteers for this, and if you want out, now’s your last chance. One last thing: we’re going to be dealing with a society that in some respects is as advanced as our own and, at the same time, one that can be violently xenophobic. Keep your eyes and ears open, and do your best to stay out of trouble with the locals. That is all.”

Looking at the Main Viewer on the bulkhead in front of him, Harry drunk in the image of Earth one last time. After blinking a few times to get back into the game so to speak, He said “Mr.Stendec, is the Program ready for insertion?”

“Aye Captain, the Program is ready for insertion, our target date is the first of June, 1996. Be advised that because the Makin Class Spaceframe has never been used for this type of maneuver, there are several variables that I cannot be certain of. We will arrive in 1996, but I am not certain of the exact date... It should be close to the First of June.” 

Harry nodded in understanding and said “Thank you for your candor Mr. Stendec. Please insert the Program” 

The Program, as it was generically called, was a specialized set of instructions that modified the navigational instruction and warp drive settings for starship so it could safely go into a time warp using a star’s gravitational field. Based on computations that had first been developed by then-Commander Spock of the USS Enterprise, they were highly complex calculations and had hundreds of variables that could affect the time and location of the ship’s exit from the time warp field. Some of those variables could cause the ship to fly into the star, resulting in its destruction, if they were not precisely correct. Copies of the Program were carried in every ship’s database, but accessing them required multiple forms of security identification and should a ship’s database be captured, using the Program without destroying your ship required an expert navigator to follow the highly accurate and complex course that was generated as well as someone that could handle the high level spatial and theoretical mathematics used to factor in the variables in the equations. 

“Captain, ” Mr. Shackleford said, “the Program has been injected and has calculated the course and speed. It’s tricky, but nothing too outrageous. We’ll get through just fine.” 

“Thank You Mr. Shackleford. Chief Yeary, as soon as we receive clearance, take us out and bring us to the start point for our run, one quarter impulse.”

“Aye aye, Sir.”

 

“Captain, we have received clearance to depart from spacedock,” said Lt. Indainda from the comms station “Also, the Excelsior is waiting at the start point. Captain Sulu’s Compliments sir, and he sends ‘Good luck and Godspeed, Saipan.’”

“Thank you Mr. Indainda, Send our Compliments as well, and append ‘Good fortune and clear skies for your mapping in the Beta quadrant, Excelsior.’” said Harry. Turning his attention to the Navigation/Helm Stations, in a clear voice, Harry ordered, “Chief, take us out.”

It only took a few minutes to reach the point out near the asteroid belt that was the designated starting point for the run that would catapult them into the past. 

Looking at the viewscreen, the bridge crew could see the Excelsior sitting out about 500K from their position. 

 

“Gawd, she’s a big one,” Cassie Malfoy said, more to herself than anyone in particular.

“Aye that she is, Miss. She’s a good omen; the best of the Federation watching over our flight from the nest,” said Chief Yeary from the Helm.

Harry smiled at the comment and pressed a button on his armrest. “Engineering, are we ready?” 

“We’re Green ‘cross the board, Cap’n,” replied LtCdr. Vought. “Go For Broke.”

Harry just shook his head at the small woman’s voice. He could just imagine her vibrating with excitement at the prospect of this little trip. 

“Acknowledged, Engineering. Hold on tight this could be a bit bumpy.” said Harry. He removed his finger from the comms button. “Chief, Mr. Shackelford, it’s time. You know, Starfleet expects a certain degree of refinement from its officers," he observed lightly. "I feel it is our duty to disappoint them. Warp speed. And don’t spare the horses."

With that, the U.S.S. Saipan shot off to her destiny, leaving a hail of Cherenkov radiation to mark her departure in her wake.


End file.
